In 2001, Salcedo became an assistant coach with the UCLA Bruins. During his three seasons as an assistant, UCLA won the 2002 NCAA Championship and two Pac-10 championships. In 2002, he spent two short stints as acting head coach. In early 2004, UCLA hired Salcedo to replace Tom Fitzgerald as head coach. Salcedo was named the 2004 Pac-10 Co-Coach of the Year after leading UCLA to its third-straight conference title. In 2006, the Bruins went to NCAA Championship Game where they lost to UC Santa Barbara. On March 12, 2019, Salcedo was arrested, and indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for conspiracy to commit racketeering for alleged participation in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. His indictment charged Salcedo with taking $200,000 in bribes to help two students, one in 2016 and one in 2018, get admitted to UCLA using falsified soccer credential admission information. As a result, he was placed on leave by UCLA from his coaching position at the school. On March 21, 2019, it was announced that he had resigned. On 21 April 2020, it was announced that he had agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him.