UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond made good on his vow to hire a new football coach in short order after the Feb. 9 departure of Chip Kelly to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Now the much lengthier and far more arduous task falls to the man Mr. Jarmond tabbed, former Bruins running back DeShaun Foster.
Mr. Foster, named the 19th head coach in UCLA history Feb. 12, will be charged with overseeing the program as it navigates what figures to be a very challenging transition to the Big Ten Conference.
“While undergoing a comprehensive search for our new head coach, DeShaun resonated from the start and throughout the whole process,” Mr. Jarmond said in a statement released by the university. “We are looking for a coach with integrity, energy and passion, someone who is a great teacher, who develops young men, [and] is a great recruiter. DeShaun checks all of those boxes and then some.”
Mr. Foster, 44, spent 10 seasons as a Bruins assistant, including the past seven as running backs coach. After having also served as associate head coach this past season, he had accepted a job earlier this month to become running backs coach with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
“This is a dream come true,” Mr. Foster said in the UCLA statement. “I always envisioned being a Bruin, ever since I was young, and now being the head coach at my alma mater is such a surreal feeling. The foundation of this program will be built on discipline, respect, and enthusiasm. These are phenomenal young men, and I’m excited to hit the ground running.”
A member of both the UCLA Hall of Fame and the California High School Football Hall of Fame’s introductory class for his exploits at Tustin High School in nearby Orange County, Mr. Foster emerged from a field of 11 candidates, reported ESPN. He will face no shortage of immediate challenges.
The Bruins are coming off an 8–5 campaign that included a 4–5, seventh-place finish in their final season in the Pacific 12 Conference. By virtually all accounts, the returning UCLA roster is mediocre at best. The school’s incoming recruiting class is ranked last in the Big 10 and 88th in the nation, with only 10 players committed, according to 247Sports, a leading college recruiting website.
In addition to still having to deal with longtime Pac-12 rivals USC, Washington, and Oregon, which are also transitioning to the Big Ten, the Bruins will now be competing against defending national champion Michigan and fellow perennial conference powers Ohio State and Penn State, among others.
UCLA clearly is counting on Mr. Foster’s strong ties to the university and the region to aid in recruiting, though virtually the entire high school class of 2024 has already made college choices. Current Bruins players also have 30 days from the time of Mr. Kelly’s exit to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
Mr. Foster completed his collegiate career ranked third on UCLA’s all-time rushing list with 3,194 yards and second with 44 touchdowns. A second-team All-American in 2001, he went on to play seven NFL seasons for the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. He rushed for more than 800 yards in each of his final three campaigns with the Panthers and ran for a 33-yard touchdown in Carolina’s 32–29 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots at the end of the 2003 season.
Under Mr. Foster’s guidance, the Bruins led the Pac-12 in rushing offense each of the past two seasons and have ranked in the top 20 nationally for three consecutive years. A UCLA running back has been selected in each of the past four NFL drafts, with Joshua Kelley going to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020, Demetric Felton Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in 2021, Brittain Brown to the Raiders in 2022, and Zach Charbonnet to the Seattle Seahawks last year.
A nominee for the 2022 Broyles Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top assistant coach, Mr. Foster began his coaching career as a student assistant with the Bruins in 2012 and ’13. He worked as a graduate assistant the following season and was the school’s director of player development and high school relations in 2015.
Mr. Foster spent the 2016 season as running backs coach at Texas Tech, working under renowned offensive guru Kliff Kingsbury, who last week accepted a job as offensive coordinator for the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
