Skipper Named Head Coach at Cal Poly After Interim Stint at UCLA

Tim Skipper, who guided UCLA for the final nine games of the season as interim head coach, has been hired to lead Cal Poly’s football program, the university announced Wednesday.

Skipper replaces Paul Wulff, fired last month after compiling a 10–24 record over two seasons.

According to reports, Skipper agreed to a five-year contract with the Football Championship Subdivision program.

Skipper went 3–6 after taking over the Bruins from DeShaun Foster, who was dismissed three games into his second season. Despite the rough start, Skipper earned praise for stabilizing a UCLA team that opened 0–3 and appeared to be spiraling.

His tenure included an unexpected three-game stretch of victories over Penn State, Michigan State and Maryland in October before the Bruins dropped their final five contests, closing with a 29–10 loss to Southern California last weekend.

Skipper came aboard as a dispute erupted between the university and City leaders. According to City leaders, UCLA is attempting to break its lease with the Rose Bowl and move its team to SoFi Stadium.

The veteran assistant also served in interim roles at Fresno State, coaching 14 games across the 2023 and 2024 seasons after Jeff Tedford stepped down. Skipper, a Fresno State alumnus, went 7–7 across those two years.

Skipper spent one season at UCLA following previous stops as an assistant at Florida and UNLV. Cal Poly becomes his first permanent head-coaching job at the Division I level.

The Mustangs have not posted a winning season since 2016.

UCLA is expected to hire James Madison coach Bob Chesney after the Dukes conclude their Sun Belt championship game on Friday.