Believe it or not, things are starting to look up for the UCLA Bruins. Their former star running back DeShaun Foster is coming off a promising first year as their head coach. UCLA had a better time of adjusting to playing in the Big Ten than most of us could have imagined. Even more promising, the Bruins were able to land former Tennessee Volunteers starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava as well.
Iamaleava comes back home to his native Southern California to play for the Bruins. Keep in mind that he only started one year for Tennessee. Coming with him is his younger brother Madden Iamaleava, who initially enrolled at Arkansas before transferring back to UCLA. While Luke Duncan remains on the roster, Demaricus Davis entered the transfer portal. That should leave us with three guys, right?
Not so fast, my friend... Coming over from Louisville after a brief pitstop at Ole Miss is quarterback Pierce Clarkson. The former St. John Bosco star is coming home as well with three years of eligibility. This has to make you wonder about the chances of both Iamaleava Brothers potentially starting at UCLA before it is all said and done. This is starting to feel like something we saw out of LaVar Ball.
It should be noted that Clarkson's father Steve is a prominent quarterback coach in the region, too.
Sources: Former Louisville and Ole Miss QB Pierce Clarkson has signed with UCLA. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining. He’s a Los Angeles native who is headed home. pic.twitter.com/XLhLM4V7Ne
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 13, 2025
I will now unpack what Clarkson's transfer to UCLA means for the Bruins and the Iamaleava Brothers.
Pierce Clarkson throws a wrench into Iamalaeava UCLA succession plan
Look. Even if Duncan has been with the program the longest, Nico Iamaleava is almost certainly going to be the starting quarterback for the Bruins this year, and probably next. Duncan may serve as the primary backup, but Clarkson could be pushing for playing time as well. As for Madden Iamaleava, he is the youngest of the four quarterbacks,. He will have to fight for scraps under the table at UCLA.
What I am getting at is Madden Iamaleava will really have to turn heads to get any playing time in Westwood. He may have a famous last name, but his brother was the high-profile recruit coming out of high school. Clarkson and Duncan are cut from the same cloth as the younger Iamaleava brother. One of those three could be making a name for himself at UCLA, and I am not so sure it is Iamaleava...
Truth be told, this will come down to one thing and one thing only: What quarterback will Foster trust to run his ground-centric offense most effectively? He is a former running back himself. The last thing he will want is for a hotshot quarterback to play inherently reckless with the football when the Bruins are tasked with playing games in the midwest in the latter part of October and throughout November.
Competition often brings out the best in everyone, but this will be the only way forward for UCLA now.