UCLA spring showcase: What to watch for from the Bruins

The last time the UCLA football team hosted a spring showcase during camp, it was an uninspiring, lifeless display on campus at Drake Stadium two years ago and the program decided against doing anything similar the following year.

Now, with a new marketing attack and first-year head coach DeShaun Foster breathing new life into the program since taking over in mid-February, the Bruins are looking to build off the previous week’s Friday Night Lights practice success with Saturday’s event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

As of Wednesday, more than 21,000 free tickets had been claimed for the 2 p.m. event, which will follow the UCLA men’s soccer team’s spring game against the Liga Premier under-23 Select Team at 11 a.m.

Gates will open at 10 a.m.

UCLA newcomers, both players and coaches alike, are looking forward to setting foot on the Rose Bowl field for the first time.

“This is my first time in California, for a long time,” Bruins quarterbacks coach Ted White said after practice Thursday. “My wife loves it. My daughter will be here for the spring game, and I’m looking forward for my first time to be able to go to the Rose Bowl.”

Notre Dame transfer safety Ramon Henderson, a projected starter and Bakersfield, Calif., native, said he’s only watched games at the Rose Bowl on TV.

“Just being on the field might be a little different,” Henderson said.

“It’s really just like a highlighted practice, but I'm excited just to see how the environment will be. Get a little preview of how the season will come about. Watching our guys do what we do on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully no one freezes up, gets stage shocked at all, but I think we have a pretty good team.”

The event, like last week’s Friday Night Lights, will be another big recruiting weekend headlined by the likes of top-50 2026 Orange (Calif.) Lutheran outside linebacker Talanoa Ili and some of the Bruins’ current 2025 and 2026 commits.

Here are three things to watch for:

The last practice of each week has typically been UCLA’s “competition day,” with more 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 action. The Bruins did more of the latter when roughly 2,000 people attended Friday Night Lights, and Foster has put an emphasis on delivering a show.

At the start of the week, Foster was unsure whether he’d throw in a different wrinkle, like allowing the players to “draft” teams.

“But there’s going to be some sort of competition, a lot of that, very similar to Friday night,” Foster said. “I want the fans to treat it like a game, come out and tailgate, bring your friends, bring your family, bring everybody. I need the city to come out and support us. The players are out here doing more and I would like the fans to come out and do more, also.”

An update Saturday morning from UCLA on the scoring system:

Thursday’s practice, the most recent one leading up to the showcase, brought more change than any other previous practice all spring.

Keep an eye on right guard, center and left tackle, in particular, where returning starters Bruno Fina and Josh Carlin and reserves Tavake Tuikolovatu and Jaylan Jeffers experimented with role changes.

Outside of those big question marks, the offense will feature the addition of Notre Dame transfer receiver Rico Flores Jr., who has assumed the No. 1 jersey of top receiver J.Michael Sturdivant (No. 7 now).

Fellow receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala also has had his share of moments in practices after missing the entire 2023 season for undisclosed reasons. Mokiao-Atimalala’s absence was not about his health, as he was spotted regularly in uniform at practices throughout last fall.

Meanwhile, also back in the fold at running back is Keegan Jones, who was seldomly-used as a receiver by former head coach Chip Kelly and initially transferred to Connecticut before Foster lured him back to Westwood.

Several times this spring, Jones has looked like the most electric player on the field.

Plenty has changed to the point there isn’t just one area to highlight.

Returning inside linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo has sprinkled in repetitions as an edge rusher this spring. That’s, of course, because the Bruins lost star edge rusher and new Indianapolis Colts first-round NFL draft pick Laiatu Latu and the rest of the pass rush that wreaked havoc in opposing backfields in 2023.

Others to watch at the position include Navy transfer Jacob Busic.

It’s unclear whether defensive tackle Jay Toia, who missed two earlier practices while flirting with the idea of transferring, will be activated. Toia has since appeared in the last two practices, but the 6-foot-3, 325-pounder appeared to hurt his left arm during Thursday’s practice and was held out for the remainder of the session.

Later that day, Toia was at the NFL draft to support Latu.

The safety positions had its own considerable facelift this offseason. Henderson and Oregon transfer Bryan Addison have taken the majority of unofficial first-team repetitions, while returner D.J. Justice has moved into the nickelback role when the Bruins bring in an extra defensive back.

A host of notable reserves at cornerback, second-year player Kanye Clark and freshman early enrollees Jamir Benjamin and Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins, are among those also in a healthy battle for reps.

But, again, with a possible different format in Foster’s plans, this could be unlike any other practice.