The Future of UCLA Football

If there’s one thing Bruin football fans have had to hold onto for a very long time, it’s that the future will be better. Why? Well, typically, that’s because the present has never been as good as it could be.

It’s why we anxiously wait to find out what recruits are joining the program. It’s why we get so frustrated with the coaching staff.

What does the future of UCLA Football hold? Let’s look into the next five years for the program to try to make some predictions.

Prediction #1: Bounceback Year

While we’re generally looking to the long-term future here, let’s take a look at the team’s short-term future. The team will be better than last year.

The only question is how much better will the team be this?

Based on how the team looked this Spring, I’d say the team will likely win 6 or 7 games this season.

Getting the team back to winning 8-10 games this season probably isn’t going to happen.

As long as Jim Mora is retained by Dan Guerrero, Josh Rosen will return for his senior season because he will still have something to prove to NFL scouts.

Prediction #2: The Administration

We’ve been waiting for a change in the administration for a long time. Gene Block and Dan Guerrero will finally retire.

While this isn’t specifically football-related, it is something which is absolutely critical to the future of UCLA Football. A change in the UCLA administration can and will change the overall direction of the program.

The UCLA Athletic Directorship should generate national interest. Who will get the job? Potential candidates can change often, but a few things are for sure. UCLA cannot hire someone from within. There is no room for on-the-job training at UCLA. UCLA will need to hire someone who has run a Power 5 program before and, hopefully, a successful Power 5 program at that.

Prediction #3: Jim Mora Will Be Fired

The mediocrity UCLA has experienced under Jim Mora will continue and Mora will be fired within the next five years. The only questions about this are: When will this happen? And, who will be the guy pulling the trigger?

Will Dan Guerrero allow Mora to remain in Westwood until Guerrero finally retires? If he does, this task will fall to Guerrero’s successor.

Or, will the team falter again soon enough that Dan decides to pull the trigger himself and pick Mora’s replacement? My guess is that Guerrero does it a year after extending Mora’s contract again.

Prediction #4: Rose Bowl Drought Will End

UCLA’s Rose Bowl Drought will continue until Dan Guerrero retires and the new Athletic Director hires his first football coach. When that happens, assuming an experienced individual is hired, look for that to end in either 2020 or 2021.

This will extend UCLA’s Rose Bowl Drought to more than 20 years. It will also mean that, by the time UCLA next wins the Rose Bowl, it could very well be 35 years between Rose Bowl wins.

Prediction #5: Under Armour Will Debut a Gold Alternate Jersey

This may not happen right away, but, one year, UCLA will get an alternate jersey which is shiny gold with powderkeg blue numbers and a powderkeg blue and white UCLA stripe. It will be an interesting twist on the school’s colors. The Athletic Department will debut it early in the summer and make it available for sale immediately. It will become the best-selling alternate jersey since the Navy blue LA Nights.

So, those are some short-term and long-term predictions for the future of UCLA Football. Take the poll below to vote on which one you think is most likely and offer your own predictions of what will happen to Bruin football between now and 2021 in the comments.

Go Bruins!