Nico's here because Tennessee let him go. But why?
Against the 6 teams in the top half of their schedule Nico disappeared, Tennessee went 3-3, there was no NIL reward and off through the portal he went.
The three wins were defensive wins. Against the top 6 teams Tennessee needed to beat, Nico completed 56% of his passes for an average of 164 yards. He threw 2 TDs and 3 picks. Not much for a stiff price tag.
We are told that "Nico led his team to the playoffs". No, he didn't. Tennessee went to the playoffs because their defense beat Alabama and they cleaned up on the lower half of their (SEC engineered) schedule with 7 wins. Against the lower half, Nico was a 68% passer and averaged 233 yards. He threw 19 TDs and 4 picks.
Since the Bruins will probably get a passing game similar to what Nico did at Tennessee and what Sunseri did at Indiana (which was just a click better than Tennessee) we should expect a low volume passer with low productivity against the top half of our schedule and greater success against our lower half. Nico will probably disappear when we need him most.
Tennessee was playoff team because they had a good defense, a great running game (best in SEC) and because they cleaned up on the soft lower half of the SEC and cushy non-conference opponents.
Nico is a good athlete and he's likely to mature over 2024, but there is still a considerable probability that he disappears when we need him most. He'll do well against our bottom half. Overall, his season may not match the hype.
There's also the possibility that he sits if he's getting hit too much behind the Bruins unproved OL, saving himself for a jump to the NFL or back into the portal. The NFL looks like a stretch at this point.
With Nico playing the entire way, the Bruins generously go 2 - 4 against their top half and 4 - 2 against their bottom half to arrive at 6 - 6 and yet another visit to a third tier bowl.
With that, the Ucla public school bureaucrats will celebrate a major improvement in Foster's second year and claim the program is on it's way back to the top. Don't be fooled.
Ucla produces mediocrity in football and they'll do it again this season. The Bruins are and in 2025 will remain an also-ran in football. As long as Ucla is in charge of the program it will remain mismanaged from top to bottom and side to side.
Nico, Sunseri, Foster and all the hype of a thousand paid media sycophants can't and won't change the waste that Ucla has transformed the Bruin program into. Only a separation from Morgan Center (yes, it can be done) will free the Bruins to fulfill their potential and truly compete once more.