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On Sunday, Sept. 14, UCLA fired coach DeShaun Foster and became the first FBS program to make a coaching change during the 2025 season, beating Virginia Tech out for the dubious distinction by 32 minutes.
Foster struggled with the massive leap from running backs coach to the head of a Big Ten program, going just 5-10 in his abbreviated tenure. Though the Bruins showed some promise late in his first season by winning four of their final six games, they got off to a 0-3 start despite a headline-filled offseason in which they brought in Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The third of those losses this season was the most embarrassing, with UCLA losing 35-10 in a mostly empty Rose Bowl against a New Mexico team it was favored to beat by 15 points and that it paid $1.2 million to make the trip to southern California. Fewer than 48 hours after that disastrous result, Foster was fired.
REQUIRED READING: Will Nico Iamaleava transfer from UCLA? Analyzing decision after DeShaun Foster firing
While the Bruins and their athletic leadership believed the move needed to be made, it left the football program without a full-time head coach with nine games still remaining on its schedule.
So, with Foster gone and UCLA coming off a bye week, where does that leave things heading into Saturday’s game at Northwestern and for the rest of the season?
Here’s a look at the Bruins and their interim coach after Foster’s ouster:
Shortly after news of Foster’s firing first broke after Week 3, UCLA announced that Tim Skipper would be serving as the Bruins’ interim head coach.
Skipper had been serving as UCLA’s special assistant to the head coach before being promoted.
Interestingly enough, this doesn’t mark the first time Skipper has been the head coach of an FBS program on an interim basis.
Just last year, Skipper was the interim head coach at Fresno State, a role he was appointed to in July 2024, when Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford stepped down due to health concerns. Under Skipper, Fresno State went 6-6 during the regular season, which included a 20-13 loss to UCLA in its regular-season finale. The Bulldogs went on to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, where they lost in double-overtime to Northern Illinois.
Skipper had also served as Fresno State’s acting head coach in the 2023 New Mexico Bowl, a game in which the Bulldogs defeated Diego Pavia and a 10-win New Mexico State team 37-10.
The 47-year-old Skipper has been well-traveled over his 25 years coaching college football, with UCLA being the eighth school he has coached at during that time. He coached linebackers at Fresno State from 2022-23, which came after a two-year run as the linebackers coach at Central Michigan. He has major-conference coaching experience, as well, having worked as an assistant coach for four seasons at Florida, from 2015-18.
As a player, Skipper was a four-year starting linebacker for Fresno State from 1997-2000, earning All-WAC honors three times and finishing his career with 418 tackles, the second-most in program history.
Once his playing days were over, coaching came naturally for Skipper. His father, Jim, was a longtime running backs coach in the NFL and his older brother, Kelly, has been the Buffalo Bills’ running backs coach since 2017.
REQUIRED READING: College football Week 5 has Kalen DeBoer, Oregon, Penn State facing pressure
Here’s a stop-by-stop look at Skipper’s coaching career:
In 14 games as an interim head coach, all of which came at Fresno State, Skipper is 7-7, which included a pair of bowl appearances.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is UCLA's football coach? Tim Skipper is Bruins interim coach
Continue reading...
Foster struggled with the massive leap from running backs coach to the head of a Big Ten program, going just 5-10 in his abbreviated tenure. Though the Bruins showed some promise late in his first season by winning four of their final six games, they got off to a 0-3 start despite a headline-filled offseason in which they brought in Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The third of those losses this season was the most embarrassing, with UCLA losing 35-10 in a mostly empty Rose Bowl against a New Mexico team it was favored to beat by 15 points and that it paid $1.2 million to make the trip to southern California. Fewer than 48 hours after that disastrous result, Foster was fired.
REQUIRED READING: Will Nico Iamaleava transfer from UCLA? Analyzing decision after DeShaun Foster firing
While the Bruins and their athletic leadership believed the move needed to be made, it left the football program without a full-time head coach with nine games still remaining on its schedule.
So, with Foster gone and UCLA coming off a bye week, where does that leave things heading into Saturday’s game at Northwestern and for the rest of the season?
Here’s a look at the Bruins and their interim coach after Foster’s ouster:
Who is coaching UCLA?
Shortly after news of Foster’s firing first broke after Week 3, UCLA announced that Tim Skipper would be serving as the Bruins’ interim head coach.
Skipper had been serving as UCLA’s special assistant to the head coach before being promoted.
Interestingly enough, this doesn’t mark the first time Skipper has been the head coach of an FBS program on an interim basis.
Just last year, Skipper was the interim head coach at Fresno State, a role he was appointed to in July 2024, when Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford stepped down due to health concerns. Under Skipper, Fresno State went 6-6 during the regular season, which included a 20-13 loss to UCLA in its regular-season finale. The Bulldogs went on to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, where they lost in double-overtime to Northern Illinois.
Skipper had also served as Fresno State’s acting head coach in the 2023 New Mexico Bowl, a game in which the Bulldogs defeated Diego Pavia and a 10-win New Mexico State team 37-10.
The 47-year-old Skipper has been well-traveled over his 25 years coaching college football, with UCLA being the eighth school he has coached at during that time. He coached linebackers at Fresno State from 2022-23, which came after a two-year run as the linebackers coach at Central Michigan. He has major-conference coaching experience, as well, having worked as an assistant coach for four seasons at Florida, from 2015-18.
As a player, Skipper was a four-year starting linebacker for Fresno State from 1997-2000, earning All-WAC honors three times and finishing his career with 418 tackles, the second-most in program history.
Once his playing days were over, coaching came naturally for Skipper. His father, Jim, was a longtime running backs coach in the NFL and his older brother, Kelly, has been the Buffalo Bills’ running backs coach since 2017.
REQUIRED READING: College football Week 5 has Kalen DeBoer, Oregon, Penn State facing pressure
Tim Skipper coaching career
Here’s a stop-by-stop look at Skipper’s coaching career:
- 2025 – UCLA interim head coach
- 2025 – UCLA special assistant to the head coach
- 2024 – Fresno State interim head coach
- 2022-23 – Fresno State linebackers coach, assistant head coach
- 2020-21 – Central Michigan linebackers coach, assistant head coach
- 2018-19 – UNLV defensive coordinator, linebackers coach
- 2017-18 – Florida linebackers coach
- 2015-16 – Florida running backs coach
- 2012-14 – Colorado State linebackers coach, assistant head coach
- 2009-11 – Fresno State linebackers coach, defensive run game coordinator
- 2006-08 – Fresno State running backs coach
- 2004-05 – Sacramento State defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach
- 2003 – Sacramento State defensive backs coach
- 2002 – Western New Mexico defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach
- 2001 – Western New Mexico defensive backs coach
Tim Skipper record
In 14 games as an interim head coach, all of which came at Fresno State, Skipper is 7-7, which included a pair of bowl appearances.
Want the best college football coverage? Sign up for our 'Path to Playoff' newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is UCLA's football coach? Tim Skipper is Bruins interim coach
Continue reading...
