UCLA football’s long-term search for a defensive coordinator finally came to an end last week when the Bruins hired Tom Bradley to take the reins of that unit.
Bradley replaces Jeff Ulbrich, who left to take the position as linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
Does the hiring of the veteran Bradley make UCLA’s defense an elite unit? It is obviously difficult to tell that right now, but if his resume is any indication, the potential for that to happen is definitely there.
Bradley began his coaching career at Penn State in 1979 as a graduate assistant and took a variety of positions within the staff before becoming the Nittany Lions defensive coordinator in 2000, remaining in that role until 2011.
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During his time as DC, Bradley’s defenses were widely considered to be some of the best in college football and Penn State was always a Big Ten and national threat, in large part due to those defenses and the multitude of excellent players he coached up, including, but not limited to, NFL Pro Bowlers Paul Posluszny and Sean Lee.
Following his time at Penn State, he was the assistant head coach at West Virginia in 2014, and although he wasn’t as successful in Morgantown, he definitely showed the ability to be an excellent DC at PSU.
As for his new job, Bradley definitely has talented players to work with including Myles Jack, Ishmael Adams, Deon Hollins, Jaleel Wadood, Takkarist McKinley, and other difference makers on defense.
UCLA already has one of the most talented defenses in the Pac-12 and an underrated one nationally, and add a guru in Bradley to the equation, and that is surely a great combination for the future.