LOS ANGELES —- Anthony Frias II stood in front of the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2016, hoisting a sign that read, “One day I will play here.”
It was a long time coming for Frias – then a rabid Stanford fan ready to see his favorite player, Christian McCaffrey, star against Iowa in “The Granddaddy of Them All” – now in his second season in Westwood.
‘We just said, one day I’ll play here – and take that picture,” Frias said. “And it’s just crazy to see it come full circle. Being able to play at the Rose Bowl every weekend, on the home games, it’s like a dream come true.”
Frias, along with the running backs unit, which has started slowly in 2025 – ranking 104th in rushing offense with 122 yards per game – will try to turn their woes around.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava leads all Bruins in rushing yards through three games. With Frias, who leads the team in kick returns so far this season, sitting behind Jaivian Thomas, Jalen Berger and Anthony Woods in the running back room, the 5-foot-11 tailback could be the next player up to spark the offense against Northwestern on Saturday.
“We could do a lot of great things,” Frias said. “It’s just playing fast and executing and proving ourselves right. Not proving other people wrong, just proving ourselves right.”
Skipper taps defensive mentor
Kevin Coyle once coached an undersized, effort-filled linebacker in central California who succeeded under Coyle’s tutelage. And he is now the Bruins’ interim coach.
Tim Skipper earned three all-conference selections for Fresno State before starting a coaching career that has now reunited Coyle and Skipper in Westwood. Coyle, who served as Skipper’s defensive coordinator a year ago for the Bulldogs, joined UCLA’s coaching staff as a defensive assistant, Skipper said Monday.
Monday was also the first day on campus for Coyle, who had been a senior defensive analyst at Syracuse through the Orange’s first four games of the 2025 season.
“He is kind of like the godfather to me for football,” Skipper said of Coyle, who led Fresno State’s defensive front to a third-place ranking in total defense in the Mountain West last year. “[He] did a lot of teaching me the game. It’s where I originally first started learning how to play sound, good defense.”
Coyle will help round out a “collaborative” defensive play calling, as Skipper put it last week, following a mutual separation with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe. Skipper said Monday that, depending on how the three practices go before traveling to Evanston, Illinois, for UCLA’s game against Northwestern (1-2) on Saturday, there could be a more solidified defensive play-calling decision.
“A wise man learns from others, and [Coyle is] somebody who has a lot of experience,” UCLA redshirt senior defensive back Key Lawrence said. “We’re just bringing another type of culture that he’s trying to bring in and understanding that we just need to play as one unit, one sound and one heartbeat.”
Entering Big Ten conference play, UCLA (0-3) ranks last in the Big Ten in these respective categories: rushing defense, scoring defense, total defense, team pass efficiency defense, team sacks and team tackles for loss.
Skipper said he hopes Coyle, who helped coach Syracuse to a 34-21 victory over Clemson, can help shore up UCLA’s defensive approach.
“But right now, he’s here, [and] that process is still going and evolving,” he said. “I mean, it’s so fresh. So just to get him here and help us out, just look at things and things like that, it’ll be major in my eyes.”