Football offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu’s contract not renewed
Kennedy Polamalu’s offense finished second to last in the FBS in average rushing yards per game. The offensive coordinator’s contract will not be renewed for the 2017 football season as announced by UCLA Athletics. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By TuAnh Dam
Nov. 27, 2016 12:26 p.m.
Three-year running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu is the first casualty of the Bruins’ underwhelming 2016 season.
The offensive coordinator’s contract will not be renewed for the 2017 season, as announced by UCLA Athletics Sunday morning.
Polamalu joined head coach Jim Mora’s coaching staff in December of 2013 as a running backs coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2016 with the departure of Noel Mazzone to Texas A&M.
In his first season at the helm of the offense, the Bruins struggled rushing the ball despite having a core group with junior Nate Starks and sophomores Bolu Olurunfunmi and Soso Jamabo.
Starks, Olurunfunmi and Jamabo all had games where they were unavailable for undisclosed reasons earlier in the season.
UCLA finished second to last in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing, with 84.25 yards per game, totaling just 1,011 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 games.
“I want to thank Kennedy for his hard work, dedication to the program and commitment to our student-athletes,” Mora said in an email release. “He is a professional in every sense of the word.”
UCLA Athletics and Mora said a comprehensive search to fill the position will begin immediately.
