UCLA football coach Jim Mora finally completed the hiring of his staff Tuesday when he announced Lou Spanos would be the Bruins’ new defensive coordinator.
Spanos comes to Westwood from Washington D.C. where he served as the NFL’s Washington Redskins’ linebackers coach since 2009. Prior to that, Spanos was a defensive assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons.
“I am thrilled a coach with Lou’s NFL background and defensive pedigree has agreed to join our staff. Now that our coaching staff is complete, I’d like to thank Dan Guerrero for his support as we sought to bring the finest coaches in football to UCLA,” Mora said in a statement. “We have a collection of men that will not only be mentors to our student-athletes, but given their experience at the highest levels of football, will also be able to provide them a blueprint for competing and winning, and reaching their athletic potential.”
Mora’s hire of Spanos continues a trend of hiring coaches with NFL experience to his new staff. This will be Spanos’ first collegiate coaching post since 1992 when he was a student assistant at Tulsa, his alma mater.