Inching closer to a new era for UCLA football in the Big Ten, Daily Bruin Sports will preview each of the Bruins’ position groups prior to the season’s official start. Assistant Sports editor Kai Dizon kicks off the series with a dive into the special teams.

Personnel

Associate head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will have to adjust in his return to the collegiate ranks.

With the Kansas City Chiefs, Bieniemy had kicker Harrison Butker – who is No. 2 all-time in NFL career field goal percentage since 1938 – at his disposal.

And although the two-time Super Bowl champion coach had a less-than-spectacular kicker with the Washington Commanders last season, Joey Slye’s 79.2% field goal percentage still trumps what UCLA kickers achieved in 2023.

R.J. Lopez, the first-string kicker for the Bruins last season, transferred to Purdue in the offseason after posting a 96.9% extra point percentage and 54.5% field goal percentage in 32 and 11 attempts, respectively. Had Lopez accumulated enough attempts to qualify, his field goal percentage would’ve ranked last in the Pac-12.

The Bruins’ most notable returning kicker is redshirt senior Blake Glessner. As a kickoff specialist and second-string place kicker, Glessner was perfect on all 13 of his extra point attempts but struggled on field goals, converting just two of six.

Redshirt junior kicker Joseph Firebaugh Jr. is another returner, but he recorded just two kicks – both extra points – through his two seasons in Westwood.

Sophomore Mateen Bhaghani, a California transfer, seems to have the best shot at obtaining first-string duties. In his freshman campaign, Bhaghani made 29 of 29 extra points and eight of nine field goals while averaging 54.8 yards on 13 kickoffs.

Freshman David Dellenbach – a six-star recruit according to Chris Sailer Kicking, the nation’s top-ranked resource for kicking and punting – seems poised to be thrown into the fire. Sailer ranked Dellenbach as the No. 10 kicker and No. 69 punter in the class of 2024 with a range of more than 55 yards. Dellenbach played both football and soccer at Park City High School in Utah, where he once drilled a 58-yard field goal.

UCLA’s 2023 punter, Will Powers, left Westwood after a single season. With an average of 42 yards per punt, Powers ranked eighth of nine qualified Pac-12 punters last season.

UCLA’s most attractive option to replace Powers is redshirt sophomore punter Brody Richter. After playing just one season in high school, the Scottsdale, Arizona, local stepped away from football at Arizona State in 2022 before he transferred to Northern Arizona. There, Richter averaged 43.29 yards per kick over 24 punts in five games played.

Redshirt sophomore punter Chase Barry could also vie for a first-string bid, though the JSerra Catholic High School graduate had just one punt in 2022 before redshirting the 2023 season.

In 2023, the Bruins relied on running back Colson Yankoff for a majority of kick returns. With Yankoff now a tight end for the Commanders, those duties could fall to redshirt senior running back Keegan Jones.

Given coach DeShaun Foster’s work to persuade Jones away from transferring to Connecticut, Foster seems to trust his abilities on the gridiron.

Another option for Foster is wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. While the redshirt junior was relegated to the sidelines in 2023 due to injury, Mokiao-Atimalala returned six kickoffs for UCLA in 2022.

Redshirt senior Logan Loya has been the primary punt returner since 2022. The Garden Grove, California, local returned every punt for the Bruins in 2023 – improving his average of 5.1 yards per return in 2022 to 7.2 last season – and is likely to do so again in 2024, barring any drastic changes.

One more piece of the puzzle is assistant coach Kodi Whitfield.

Previously just UCLA’s cornerbacks coach, Foster added the role of special teams coordinator to Whitfield’s plate for 2024.

Whitfield’s experience in the kicking and return game is somewhat limited. He assisted with special teams as Sacramento State’s safeties coach in 2022 and contributed nine punt returns for 40 yards as a wide receiver for Stanford in 2013.

Predictions

While UCLA could rely on veteran kick returners Jones, Mokiao-Atimalala and Loya – and possibly see the trio make leaps late in their collegiate careers – the capabilities of newcomers Bhaghani, Dellenbach and Richter remain up in the air, though the latter trio no doubt presents considerable upside.

Bruins new and old should find comfort in their six regular-season games at the Rose Bowl, but games in hostile territories – such as LSU’s Tiger Stadium – or more adverse weather conditions, such as Rutgers’ SHI Stadium, may prove more challenging for the inexperienced.

Factor in a place such as Penn State’s Beaver Stadium – with both a belligerent crowd and Northeast location – and even chip shots could feel daunting.

But Whitfield’s proven his versatility before, and Foster may have picked the right man for the job.

After spending his first two seasons with the Cardinal as a wide receiver, Whitfield transitioned to play safety for his junior and senior years. The Loyola High School graduate previously assisted with Bruin defensive backs in 2020 and 2021 before his later stints with Sacramento State and UCLA’s cornerbacks.

There’s talent on the special teams crew – and coaches who could get these Bruins to perform – but what exactly that performance looks like, come kickoff Aug. 31 in Honolulu, remains in question.