UCLA Football: Former Bruin Commit Flips To SMU
Tyler High School (Tyler, TX) running back Derrick McFall has announced his commitment to SMU on Twitter today. McFall was once committed to UCLA, but recently announced the reopening of his recruitment. It was rumored a the time that SMU was the new front-runner in his recruitment, and he had taken visits to the SMU campus recently. McFall was the former top-rated recruit in UCLA's 2024 class, but it's probably fair to suspect that the recent rumors of head coach Chip Kelly played a factor in his de-commitment. How much a factor that played is unknown.
247 Sports' Brandon Huffman reported that NIL plays a "substantial" factor in his recruitment. SMU is a school with deep pockets in the form of donors. This connection is hard to ignore.
This comes after the official NIL collective of UCLA football 'Men of Westwood' released a video in an effort to ramp up their donations.
The Bruins' 2024 recruiting class currently has 12 commits, including one running back in St. John Bosco's (Bellflower, CA) Cameron Jones.
It has been reported, now twice, that Chip Kelly was going to be fired at season's end. It is now being reported, by the same outlet that reported Kelly's firing, that UCLA will retain Kelly for at least another year. This could sure up UCLA's 2024 recruiting class, which currently ranks in the bottom tier of the Big 10 (the conference they are set to join next season).
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