Another Fresno State coach had coached for a season and went on to have much success in the Power Four level and UCLA may be thinking that Matt Entz can be the next Kalen Deboer.
Reason 1: His development of maintaining a winning culture and championship pedigree. Entz's tenure as head coach at North Dakota State, where he established a reputation as a qualified and proven program builder, has instilled in him an incredibly high standard of winning for his football teams he has coached.
He has achieved considerable success at the FCS level and has won championships. During his five seasons at NDSU, he recorded an overall record of 60-11. He guided the Bison to three consecutive trips to the championship game, including a 16-0 record in his debut season, and two NCAA Division I FCS National Championships in 2019 and again in 2021.
Reason 2: Coaching experience and a strong defensive background helped him develop players. ️
Entz's career is built on his defensive prowess, an area in which UCLA has struggled this season.
He spent five seasons as NDSU's defensive coordinator before taking over as head coach. During that time, his teams routinely finished in the top five in the FCS in both scoring and total defense, giving up fewer than 14 points per game.
He showed his ability to identify talent on both sides of the ball and developed eight NFL draft picks while a coach at NDSU, including quarterback Trey Lance, who was selected third overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Reason 3: FBS coaching experience and California cecruiting connections developed over the past two years. His recent shift to the FBS and his one-season coaching at USC provided him with direct, relevant experience to be a possible candidate for the UCLA coaching job, even though the majority of his head coaching career has been at the FCS level.
He served as USC's assistant head coach for defense and linebackers coach during the 2024 season, allowing him access to connect and develop Southern California recruiting contacts and a deep knowledge of the Big Ten recruiting environment of the West Coast, all of which are vital for the next head coach of the Bruins.
He made the deliberate decision to go up to the FBS level in order to become a head coach at an FBS level that is more competitive than the FCS level. After his coaching stint at USC, he became the head coach at Fresno State, and he is already having an impact on the Bulldogs this season, who already have road wins at Oregon State and Hawai'i this season.
Here are the ten coaching criteria that all coaching coaching candidates are being scored on for this series of exploring who may be the next head football coach at UCLA.
Criteria No. 1: Yes
Criteria No. 2: Yes
Criteria No. 3: No
Criteria No. 4: Yes
Criteria No. 5: Yes
Criteria No. 6: Yes
Criteria No. 7: No
Criteria No. 8: No
Criteria No. 9: Yes
Criteria No. 10: No