Sources have confirmed that Marques Tuiasosopo is set to stay on board and coach the tight ends next season, another quick move by new UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora.

Tuiasosopo has quickly climbed the coaching ranks after a long NFL career, which followed a standout career at Washington. He has gone from strength coach for the Huskies to UCLA intern turned interim quarterbacks coach after Rick Neuheisel was fired to full-time staff.

Like each of UCLA’s previous hires – sources have said that Noel Mazzone (offensive coordinator), Steve Broussard (running backs), Adrian Klemm (offensive line) and Demetrice Martin (defensive backs) are all set to join the staff – Tuiasosopo is quite familiar with the conference, though he’s the first new hire to bridge the new staff with the former staff.

With Broussard still with Arizona State during bowl preparation, Tuiasosopo gives Mora another crucial recruiter before the dead period begins.

* An interesting note: Mora’s first five hires seem to be a shift toward more youth on the coaching staff. The average age for the first five hires is just over 40 years old. Compare that to Rick Neuheisel’s first staff in 2008, and that’s a difference of eight years, as the nine Bruin assistants on the ’08 staff averaged 48 years.

Head Coach: Jim Mora

Offensive Coordinator: Noel Mazzone (54)
Quarterbacks: ???
Running Backs: Steve Broussard (44)
Wide Receiver: ???
Offensive Line: Adrian Klemm (34)
Tight Ends: Marques Tuiasosopo (32)
Defensive Coordinator: ???
Defenslve Line: ???
Linebackers: ???
Defensive Backs: Demetrice Martin (38)
Special Teams: ???
(note: only nine assistants per staff, so some positions will double-up)