Five intriguing head coach candidates for UCLA

After a disastrous 0-3 start to the 2025 season, the UCLA Bruins fired head coach DeShaun Foster. He compiled a 5-10 overall record in his tenure at UCLA.

On3's Pete Nakos reported on Wednesday that three big names will help in finding the Bruins' next head coach. They are UCLA booster Casey Wasserman, who is organizing the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, former Bruins star quarterback Troy Aikman and former UCLA defensive end Adam Peters, who is the general manager of the NFL's Washington Commanders.

Reports have indicated that UCLA leaders are likely to first look for a new head coach who has prior head coaching experience. However, due to potential buyouts, it's entirely possible that Bruins officials will consider attractive coordinators as candidates, too.

Here are five intriguing names for the UCLA head coaching search.

Ed Orgeron

The former LSU head coach has said that he would like to return to coaching, and he has recruiting ties to the greater Los Angeles area. Orgeron was a long-time assistant coach at cross-town Southern California, and he served as the Trojans' interim head coach in 2013.

Jedd Fisch

Fisch is currently the head coach at Washington, which is now in the Big Ten Conference, along with UCLA. He was previously the Bruins' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Fisch also served as the program's interim head coach in 2017. Similar to Orgeron, Fisch has good recruiting connections in L.A.

Tony White

For the 2025 season, White moved from being the defensive coordinator at Nebraska to the same role at Florida State. The Seminoles had an impressive Week 1 win against Alabama and could contend for this year's Atlantic Coast Conference crown. White played at UCLA and has extensive California roots. He was a graduate assistant for one season in 2007 with the Bruins and also served as an assistant coach at San Diego State from 2009-17.

Pat Fitzgerald

The former head coach at Northwestern is available and wants to get back into coaching. His former legal battle with the Wildcats program has been resolved, and if UCLA wanted to go in this direction, there would be no buyout. In his 17 seasons at Northwestern, Fitzgerald went 110–101 overall and claimed five bowl victories.

Eric Bieniemy

Similar to White, Bieniemy doesn't have college head coaching experience. He is currently the running backs coach with the Chicago Bears. In 2024, Bieniemy was an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at UCLA, which went a sub-par 5–7 last year.