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UCLA fires offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu

Sam Cooper
College football writer

After a disastrous season came to an end Saturday, UCLA coach Jim Mora has already made a change to his coaching staff.

Mora announced Sunday that offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu will not return in 2017. The move comes a day after the Bruins finished a 4-8 campaign with a brutal 36-10 loss to Cal.

“I want to thank Kennedy for his hard work, dedication to the program and commitment to our student-athletes,” Mora said in a statement. “He is a professional in every sense of the word.”

UCLA coach Jim Mora made a change to his staff a day after the season ended. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
UCLA coach Jim Mora made a change to his staff a day after the season ended. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

Polamalu was in his first season as UCLA’s offensive coordinator after being promoted from running backs coach. Polamalu filled the vacancy left when Noel Mazzone left the Bruins for the OC opening at Texas A&M. When announcing the promotion of Polamalu in January, Mora said the team would pursue a different, more power-oriented style of offense.

“As we continue to evolve as a program and tailor our philosophies and schemes to the strengths of our players, what you will see is a multifaceted offense incorporating tight ends and fullbacks into our schemes,” Mora said in January after announcing Polamalu’s promotion. “Our objective is to be a big, strong and physical offensive unit that has flexibility of personnel groupings. I know we have the right men in Kennedy, Marques and Rip to implement this philosophy.”

That vision never came to fruition as the Bruins averaged just 84.3 rushing yards per game this year, ranking No. 127 out of 128 FBS teams in the country. Those struggles became amplified when star quarterback Josh Rosen was sidelined with a shoulder injury, elevating former walk-on Mike Fafaul to the starting role.

UCLA started the season 3-2, but lost six of its last seven after Rosen was injured during the Oct. 8 loss to Arizona State.

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Mora is now 41-24 (25-20 Pac-12) in five years at UCLA. This is the first time during his tenure the Bruins will not play in a bowl game.

For more UCLA news, visit BruinSportsReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!