I wish Foster the best, but UCLA is still an abject mess. This has a feel of Embo or KD hire. Foster is nowhere close to the initial wish list that UCLA initially circulated--
https://gojoebruin.com/2023/12/05/ucla-football-who-could-be-the-next-coach-list-of-candidates/2/. I think they got a ton of No's from established coaches. Let's see who Foster can get as AC's and coordinators--they only have 6 listed. Will UCLA break the bank paying them? They have to hope Norton Jr. and Norwood stay for some stability, but they could have been passed over. 1st order of business is for Foster to re-recruit the roster. His strength is a relentless recruiter.
The only good news is the B1G conference power rankings released a couple days ago:
https://247sports.com/longformartic...s-conferences-top-programs-226972495/#2363343.
The B1G looks totally top-heavy a Big 4, then a bunch of weak/beatable teams, then 5 is UW and USC 6. I think both UW (Frisch did not bring his UaA stars,and their roster was gutted) and USC is probably over-rated. USC: "recruiting has been good but not elite." SC lost 22 guys to portal with a bunch going to P4 schools, and only back-filled with 11; really only 9 given one is a long-snapper and another the back-up QB. The two UCLA secondary transfers look good, but the OSU brothers so-so IMO (they will play, but B1G all conference??). IMO, Miller Moss will need to have a lights out season for them to do much.
Overall, I am getting the sense that the current state of college football coaching is really now geared toward a youth movement. CBSSports gave the Foster hire a B-, right next to Trent Bray and Fran Brown. O'Brian to BC is an outlier. Not that those grades mean a ton, but experience (HC, OC or DC) is now sort of overlooked. A few years back Fisch (he was an F at AZ), DeBoar (he was a B- at UW) and Troy Taylor (C- Stanford) but they had experience, a decent resume. The last 2 cycles grades have been much different than 2021, where you had 14 guys of B or better--many big names all with extensive experience as HC/Coor. The times they are a changin'.