UCLA Football: Bruins Lose 2 Defenders Ahead Of Next Season

The UCLA Bruins football program is in the midst of revamping its personnel on both sides of the field under new head coach DeShaun Foster.

To that end, it appears that the club will be losing two veteran redshirt sophomore defenders this fall. According to Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times, Foster revealed that defensive back Isaiah Newcombe and defensive lineman Quintin Somerville have both moved on.

Somerville, a 6'2", 265-pound lineman out of Chandler, Arizona, only appeared in three games for Chip Kelly's Bruins (all in 2022), playing against Alabama State, Colorado and Stanford, across his three seasons with the club. He did not record any tackles.

Newcombe, a 6'1", 185-pound back out of Gilbert, Arizona, saw far more action. He played as a reserve defensive back and special teams contributor in 2022 and '23. He played in ten contests apiece across both seasons. He notched a season- and career-best three tackles in UCLA's 59-7 decimation of North Carolina Central this past September. All told for his Blue and Gold career, Newcombe logged eight total tackles (four solo, four assisted) across those 20 combined contests.

UCLA is fully revamping its defensive program. It will be fascinating to see how the team continues to take shape over the rest of this offseason.