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  • Jay Toia's dalliance with transfer portal ends in a triumphant return to UCLA

    Turns out there’s no need to cross one big name off UCLA’s spring football roster. Jay Toia returned to practice Tuesday, five days after he entered the transfer portal to assess his options. “I'm just excited big man is back,” Bruins coach DeShaun Foster said of the 6-foot-3, 325-pound defensive lineman. “We knew with our culture here, our beliefs, the way we coach, our development — we just felt that that really, at the end of the day, overcomes anything that's coming inside trying to take...

  • UCLA's defense suffers huge blow with star lineman Jay Toia entering transfer portal

    There was a 6-foot-3, 325-pound hole on the inside of UCLA’s defensive line Thursday. It felt much bigger. Jay Toia, the Bruins’ best defensive lineman and top run-stuffer, announced shortly after practice ended on the social media platform X that he intended to enter the transfer portal after speaking with his parents about his future. His departure is a huge blow to a defense that was already considerably thinned by the loss of top edge rushers Laiatu Latu and twins Gabriel and Grayson Murphy...

  • Five takeaways from the midpoint of UCLA spring football practice

    He roams the practice field he once ruled, accommodating a malleable cast of characters. UCLA’s football-launching machine is on the fritz? DeShaun Foster flips balls into the air so his punt returners don’t waste any time in spring practice. A herd of recruits want to visit? Foster lingers to greet every one, the smiles genuine, the handshakes firm. Reporters want answers? Foster provides transparent injury updates, gives specifics about his plans, explains his thinking. It almost feels as if...