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Ikaika Malloe has been at UCLA for four years, and in his previous three seasons, he has served the Bruins in various defensive coaching roles, currently operating as the Bruins' defensive coordinator. In those three years, Malloe has changed the trajectory of multiple careers, establishing himself as a premier NFL talent developer. In the past two NFL Drafts, UCLA had six defenders drafted, including first-round pick Laiatu Latu, second-round selections Carson Schwesinger and Oluwafemi Oladejo, and Day-3 picks Kain Medrano, Jay Toia, and Darius Muasau.
Malloe also helped several other Bruins land jobs, including a camp invite for Devin Kirkwood, as well as landing spots for the Murphy brothers. Malloe's NFL products have done well. Laiatu Latu put in an impressive rookie season is expected by NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah to take a leap in Year 2.
"What you win with in college is so different than what you win with in the NFL," Jeremiah told Colts.com's JJ Stankevitz at the NFL Combine. "To me, there's a process of learning how they're going to play you, what they're going to take away and then how you can win.
"In the NFL, it's a lot more crush rush where you gotta be able to get through someone. If you're going to take high side rushes the whole time, they're going to climb up and get away from you and the ball's going to be gone. You gotta find a way to win with power through them and a way to win on that inside shoulder.
" "So, he's got all the feel for it, he's got all the ability to do that, I think it's just getting a chance to get out there and rep it and see it and then know, 'OK, this worked in college, this didn't work in the NFL.' And I do think that the realignment in college, you're going to see the effect of that two, three years from now. "Whereas his time, the majority of his time [in college], he didn't see high-quality tackles.
Now, when you look at USC, UCLA, those programs getting a chance to play in the Big Ten and see more NFL offensive linemen — not just one year but playing three years of going up against NFL linemen, you know 'OK, this doesn't work against them.' And he got a chance to figure that out last year." Darius Muasau also had a breakout year with the Giants, establishing himself as a crucial member of their linebacker room.
If the 2025 Bruins class produces like the 2024 one, Malloe could become one of the hottest names in college football, and with each successful Bruin in the NFL, that's another feather in the cap of DeShaun Foster's program, especially as they recruit players . Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE ..
