Bruins Land '26 Three-Star DL

UCLA earned its third class of 2026 commit this week, another defensive prospect.

Nov 8, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster leaves the field with the game ball after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

UCLA football is on a roll now with recruiting the class of 2026.

Early this week, the Bruins landed two defensive commits from the class. On Friday, they added another.

Class of 2026 three-star defensive lineman Yahya Gaad of South Gibson High School in Tennessee announced on social media that he has committed to the program. He chose UCLA over programs like Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida State, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas.

Gaad had been in Westwood for an official visit on Friday. The Bruins had offered him last month.

The 6-5, 260-pound prospect is ranked the No. 15 class of 2026 recruit in Tennessee and the No. 58 defensive lineman in his class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Gaad had previously been committed to SMU before decommitting in early April.

The prospect's commitment to UCLA marks another piece of the puzzle that coach DeShaun Foster is building with the Bruins' class of 2026. Things had gone quiet for a while, as going into this week, UCLA had not landed a commit from the class since November.

The program is now up to seven scholarship commits from the class, its last three all being on the defensive side of the football.

It would seem Foster's vision is coming to fruition.

"Recruiting is going to come," he said on the Dec. 4 National Signing Day. "This is a great university. You got to want to come here. So, we just have to make it visible to guys and just let them know, like, coming around here, being around this program, and you will want to jump in."

Gaad was recruited by UCLA's new defensive line coach, Jethro Franklin, who actually served as the Bruins' interior defensive line coach back in the 1999 season.

Franklin is a well-renowned coach who has many years of experience coaching at both the collegiate and professional ranks. He most recently served as the defensive line coach at his alma mater, Fresno State, for the last three seasons.

With official visit season well underway, UCLA has put itself in a great position as it looks to add to its 2026 recruiting class.

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