While the Illinois football team seems to be cruising right now, life comes at you fast if you are a UCLA fan.
When the Illini were a dumpster fire, the decision was made to hire Bret Bielema. He was a great find. The same can’t be said about the Bruins. They were looking for a great head coach, and the decision to hire DeShaun Foster went south quickly.
On February 12, 2024, Foster was hired as the head coach of UCLA. About 19 months later, he was canned. On Sunday afternoon, the news broke that the Bruins had fired Foster after starting the 2025 campaign 0-3.
It wasn’t just a tough 0-3 against good teams, though. UCLA was blown out 43-10 by Utah to start the season. They then dropped a game to UNLV 30-23. This past week was the final nail in the coffin, as the Bruins fell to New Mexico 35-10.
With the firing comes the big question: what will the players and recruits do? The current players now have a 30-day transfer window. They could head to another program, take a redshirt, and prepare for the 2026 campaign.
Illinois football should have eyes on the top UCLA commit for 2026
More interesting is what will UCLA’s commits do? Some have already backed away from their commitment, and for the Illini, we should be taking another look at the top commit for the Bruins’ class of 2026.
Micah Smith is a 6-foot-5.5, 325-pound interior offensive lineman from Vero Beach High School in Florida. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 189 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 12 interior offensive lineman in the country and the No. 25 player coming out of Florida.
#Illini #famILLy 🟧🟦 pic.twitter.com/6y5F1cok2w
— Micah Champion Smith (@ChampSmith55) April 5, 2025
When Smith was being recruited, he had all of the options in the world. He took two official visits. One was to UCLA. The other official visit? Illinois.
With chaos ensuing within the UCLA program, this would be a perfect opportunity for Bret Bielema and the coaching staff to swoop back in with open arms. We saw the Illinois offensive line struggle a bit in the first few games this season. Let’s go out and snag a four-star offensive lineman for the future.
Keep an eye on the next few weeks. Let’s see if there is movement with Smith. Illinois might get a second chance at this kid.