UCLA football helmet. (file photo)
UCLA football coach Deshaun Foster announced three hires Tuesday to help fill the initial hiring and personnel staff for the 2024 season.
This hire serves to enhance the remarkable recruiting efforts made by Foster University staff in recent weeks, with several scholarship offers made and recipients publicly announced on social media.
Butler-Benton will serve as the Bruins' general manager of recruiting and personnel, and Chris Carter will work with Benton as assistant general manager.
Stacey Ford has been hired from Washington State as UCLA's director of player personnel.
“While the UCLA brand remains constant, college football recruiting has evolved and will continue to evolve every day,” Foster said in a statement. “Butler, Chris and Stacey bring years of experience from across the country and will help us build and strengthen relationships while staying ahead of the next changes. The process of finding young people is never ending, and we are fortunate to have this staff in place.”
Mr. Benton has spent the past eight years working in the human resources and recruiting departments of prestigious FBS schools such as Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Arkansas.
In 2023, roster management and evaluation will be among his duties at Notre Dame. He also managed the Fighting Irish's scouting and recruiting department.
He spent the 2021-22 season as the general manager at the University of Arkansas and helped put together back-to-back top-30 freshman classes, including the No. 22 class heading into the 2023 season.
Carter will work with Benton to strengthen UCLA's recruiting management and efforts. Carter, the younger brother of former UCLA linebacker David Carter, is no stranger to the local area, having played at Kaiser High School in Fontana before spending all four years of his college career at Fresno State.
After playing seven years at the NFL level, Carter transitioned into an off-field role. He most recently worked as director of player development under head coach Lincoln Riley at USC. Carter also worked as a defensive recruiting analyst under Riley at Oklahoma State.
Ford arrived in Westwood after spending the past two seasons at Washington State. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Warren High School in Downey (2019-21) and was the linebackers coach at his alma mater, Cathedral High School in Los Angeles.
These hires help fill the holes left by Darren Asher and Ethan Young.
Before arriving at Westwood, Asher served as a player personnel and scouting consultant at Oregon State in 2023. He also worked at Auburn, Boise State and Georgetown throughout his career. Usher didn't stay at UCLA long, returning to the Ducks in February, shortly after head coach Chip Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State.
Young joined the program in 2018 as director of strategic intelligence and was promoted to director of player personnel and head of recruiting in 2019.
