Nick So'oto - Director, Player Personnel - Football Support Staff

Nick So'oto

Title:
Director, Player Personnel
Alma Mater:
LSU, '20
Year at UCLA:
1st in 2026

Nick So'oto enters his first season as director of player personnel for the UCLA football program in 2026.

So'oto arrives in Westwood with five years of experience in recruiting and player personnel departments at California (2025), Arizona State (2023-24), Fresno State (2022), Army West Point (2021), and West Texas A&M (2021).

In 2025, So'oto helped Cal to a berth in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl alongside brother Vic So'oto, who served as the Golden Bears' co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. New recruits – headlined by ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Luke Ferrelli – played a key role in Cal's solid season. Before making the move to UCLA, So'oto helped Cal compile the No. 38 overall recruit class in the country (transfers + freshman, 247 Composite).

So'oto's two seasons in Tempe were highlighted by a CFP appearance and 11-3 overall record in 2024. The Sun Devils won six straight games to close out that regular season before dropping a double-overtime heartbreaker to Texas in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. On the recruiting side, So'oto helped import the No. 7 class in the Big 12 and the No. 48 class nationally in 2024 (247 Composite).

His first full-time personnel position came at Fresno State in 2022, when he helped the Bulldogs to a 10-4 record, a Mountain West Championship, and a win in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl. That fall, FSU imported a top-four recruit class in the Mountain West Conference.

In his first fall as a full-time collegiate staffer, Army West Point went 9-4 with a victory in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in 2021.

He got his coaching start as an assistant defensive coordinator at Parkway High School, his alma mater.

He was a student-athlete at Division II Northeastern State University, Palomar Community College, and Division II Harding University. At Palomar, he earned all-conference honors and was named team captain.

A native of Bossier, La., So'oto graduated from LSU in 2020 with a degree in general studies with a focus on applied sciences.

So'oto’s Professional Experience
2020 – Assistant Defensive Coordinator - Parkway High School
2021 (Spring) – Defensive Line Grad Assistant, West Texas A&M
2021 – On-Campus Recruiting Coordinator, Army West Point
2022 – On-Campus Recruiting Coordinator, Fresno State
2023 – Senior Assistant for Player Personnel, Arizona State
2024 – Director of Player Personnel, Arizona State
2025 – Personnel & Recruiting, California
2026 – Director of Player Personnel, UCLA