LOS ANGELES — Defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler knows one speed: aggression.
It’s the word that Hitschler and UCLA football coach Bob Chesney have used ad nauseum to describe this Bruins defense. The players recognize that intention, too. And each member of the defense has a role in ensuring aggression doesn’t turn into overzealousness, but remains calculated.
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“When you play with that intentionality, that physicality, and that effort, that spirit on a day-to-day basis, and you have a scheme to back it with the ability to diagnose things and get into different things as the game goes on,” Chesney said Monday. “That gives me a lot of confidence.”
Hitschler dubbed the defense with the “Bruin Bullies,” a reference to the “Broad Street Bullies” as a callback to his Pennsylvania roots. At UCLA’s media day Aug. 19, he described that nickname as a collective “mindset.”
With all 11 defenders bought into this style of play, the level of effectiveness starts with the pressure up front. At Wednesday’s practice, Hitschler said “people are going to be surprised with the amount of bodies that we’re going to be able to throw at them up front.”
Darold DeNgohe will rush from the A-gap with Tyson Ford supporting as the defensive tackle. Sahir West, Aidan Gobaira and Scott Taylor have each pressured the quarterback from different sides of the defensive line. Their altering styles, combined with their ability to move around, will force offensive linemen to prepare for various attacks.
“We coming off the edge with power,” West said. “We coming off the edge to hunt.”
Similar to offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, Hitschler isn’t afraid to move pieces around. He does so with UCLA’s edge rushers, but also on the back end. DJ Barksdale and Cole Martin have the ability to play nickel and outside cornerback, but Martin can drop back to safety – where he played throughout last season – if needed.
Martin, however, is excited to play closer to the line of scrimmage, and line up against receivers in the position he played at an All-American level in high school in Chandler, Arizona, his Basha High coach Chris McDonald told the Southern California News Group.
“You kind of want to put him in a position where he can make contributions to the team at a higher percentage,” McDonald said. “He was always a corner, so he’s got great cover skills.”
As Martin, Barksdale and other defensive backs such as Robert Stafford III, Malik Hartford and Tao Johnson have moved around the formation at cornerback and safety, Rodrick Pleasant has remained on the outside as his coverage skills are crucial to UCLA’s scheme.
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“He’s a 10.1 guy,” Hitschler said of Pleasant’s time in the 100 meters. “We need to use his speed to his advantage.”
Another facet of the defensive back room is the emergence of true freshman CJ Lavender, who has a shot to play important snaps immediately. He’s lined up inside, bumping Martin to the outside, but is versatile as well.
“The DB room is loaded,” Pleasant said Monday. “I’m really excited to see what we do this year.”
The room that brings steadiness to UCLA’s defense is the linebackers. It was heavily reliant on Jalen Woods and Samuel Omosigho, who was announced as a permanent team captain Wednesday. Then the Bruins added the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Trent Hendrick to the mix less than two weeks ago.
Hendrick spent time with NFL franchises in the spring and summer but never made a roster and had been “working out” to stay ready. He’s ready to go and “he’s going to play a role for us on Saturday night,” Hitschler confirmed Wednesday, but it might not yet be at the level he produced throughout last season.
Chesney mentioned Hendrick’s role might be on special teams and as a linebacker in “three-three stack” packages for now.
As is the case with most college football teams at the beginning of the season, the defense is ahead of the offense. But for a team with 20 transfers on the defensive side, cohesion will be crucial to carrying out their plans.
“When I look at the preparation that they put into it, and I look at their idea of how to defend offenses, I think that they’re sound,” Chesney said. “They play extremely aggressive, and I think at the same point in time, they pursue the football. And there’s no plays off for them.”
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