3-Star Recommit Lifts UCLA’s 2026 Recruiting Ranking

The Bruins are rebuilding what was once one of the best recruiting classes in the nation.

Nov 30, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins helmets during pregame warmups before playing the Fresno State Bulldogs at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The dismissal of second-year head coach DeShaun Foster amid UCLA's 0-3 was just the beginning of the long road ahead rebuilding the Bruins.

Within the week of Foster's firing, thirteen of UCLA's 23 commitments from the 2026 recruiting class bowed out of Westwood, completely deconstructing what was once a top 20 class in the nation.

A month removed, UCLA's recruiting staff, led by general manager of recruiting and personnel Khary Darlington and senior director of football recruiting operations Marshawn Friloux, has been working tirelessly to restore one of the lone glimmers of hope in the program's future.

The work paid off and the Bruins added four pledges since the fall; two flips and two re-commits, one of which came this week in three-star Irvine (Calif.) Crean Lutheran defensive lineman Anthony Jones, who initially committed to UCLA in May, decommitted on Sept. 14 and returned his commitment on Sunday.

BREAKING: Class of 2026 DL Anthony Jones has re-committed to UCLA, he tells me for @rivals

The 6’5 275 DL from Irvine, CA decommitted from the Bruins in September

“All glory to God”https://t.co/tluo5f9ocR pic.twitter.com/6CP4mZcgwz

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) November 2, 2025

Where UCLA's Class Ranks After Recommitment

UCLA's 2026 recruiting class dropped all the way down to No. 81 from No. 23 on 247Sports' national recruiting rankings after the thirteen departures. Following Jones' return, the Bruins' class moved up to No. 66.

Anthony Jones | Shotgun Spratling, 247Sports

From the coaching vacancy, to depleted Rose Bowl attendance numbers, to shaking off the reputation the program has in the college football landscape, the road ahead is rough on all aspects of UCLA's football program.

However, interim head coach Tim Skipper has made due with what he's had since taking over, including keeping tabs recruiting.

Tim Skipper Reacts to Recruiting Reset

UCLA's interim head coach Tim Skipper celebrates after a Bruins touchdown against Michigan State during the third quarter on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Although he's not able to speak on specific recruits, Skipper detailed the mindset of the recruiting staff following the two flips in late October:

• "We're full speed ahead, we're working," Skipper said. "I mean, we're grinding over here. We're not letting anything go to waste or not giving effort in one area or another. It's full speed ahead in everything that we're doing.

• "We have a great support staff. I could name a million people, but that teamwork that's happening in there and getting kids to be at games and things like that, and to visit and see UCLA and see all the wonderful things that we have here, and just give them ways of why you should be here. 'You're at the Rose Bowl, what a beautiful day. Who wouldn't want to be here?' That type of thing. And then to see our style of play and the efforts we do on the field. I think it's a win-win for a lot of the guys that we're recruiting."

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