Red Sanders came to UCLA from Vanderbilt. He was arguably the best coach in school history, with an overall record of 66–19–1 () at UCLA and earned the school its only national championship in football in 1954. As head coach of the Bruins, Sanders led them to three Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) titles, two Rose Bowls (1953 and 1955 seasons) and to a 6–3 record over arch-rival USC. Sanders instituted the distinctive football uniforms worn by the Bruins when he replaced the navy blue jerseys with "baking powderkeg blue", added the shoulder stripe to give the impression of motion, and changed the number style from block to clarendon. Sanders said these changes were made to make it easier to see his Bruins on the grainy black and white game films of the time.