LOS ANGELES — DeShaun Foster knows many expect him to struggle in his first season as UCLA’s coach.
Not only is the former Bruins running back and assistant a first-time head coach after Chip Kelly left to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, but the program is in its first season in the Big Ten Conference.
Foster said his team is taking the low expectations in stride, but the annual Cleveland.com Big Ten media poll that ranked the Bruins as the fourth-worst team in the 18-school conference has lit a fire under his team.
“You just better hope that you didn’t say something and I beat you, because it’s going to be bad,” Foster said. “Trust me, I’ve got receipts from ’98 (when he was a player at UCLA). There’s a few people on the list I’m still looking for.”
Foster had been a Bruins assistant for seven years but left in January to become the Las Vegas Raiders’ running backs coach. When Kelly left for Ohio State after going 35-34 in six seasons, it took less than 72 hours for athletic director Martin Jarmond to bring Foster back to Westwood.
Foster does have enough returning talent that could help the Bruins contend for a bowl berth for a fourth straight season. Eight starters return on offense from last year’s 8-5 squad, including quarterback Ethan Garbers.
The Bruins’ biggest addition during the offseason was Eric Bieniemy, who joined the staff as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy was a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator but didn’t have the same success last year with the Washington Commanders.
Defense remains a concern, though. The Bruins had one of the nation’s top units last season but return only two starters, while defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn went across town to USC.
That’s why Foster is choosing to focus on deeds instead of words.
“Talking isn’t really my forte. You can talk all you want and then get out here and lay an egg. And now what? Or you can not be a good talker, get out here and get these boys to play some ball. And that’s what it’s about,” he said.
This is Bieniemy’s first college job since 2012, when he was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Colorado. There were some growing pains during the spring as the players started to digest the playbook, but the offense has looked better as preseason practices progressed.
The pro style system has drawn rave reviews from the receivers, especially Logan Loya.
“You can call it like a buffet - everyone eats,” Loya said. “We’ve got everything in there. I mean, the playbook is huge. We’ve got every play you could think of.”
Garbers started the first two games last season before being supplanted by Dante Moore, who struggled as a freshman before transferring to Oregon.
Garbers ended up seeing action in 11 games, including six starts, and threw for 1,136 yards and 15 touchdowns. He solidified his status as the offense’s leader in last December’s LA Bowl, when he came in during the second half and passed for 152 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-22 win over Boise State.
“With the new offense, it’s a lot of fun for a quarterback. I have a bunch of freedom and can play the position like I want to,” Garbers said.
Besides Garbers, the Bruins have plenty of experience back at the skill positions.
T.J. Harden rushed for 827 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore last season. Receivers Loya and J. Michael Sturdivant combined for 85 receptions and nine touchdowns.
Ikaika Malloe was promoted to defensive coordinator after coaching linebackers the past two seasons. The Bruins were 10th in the nation in total defense last season but have only two starters back.
One of those is senior defensive lineman Jay Toia, who briefly entered the transfer portal and was on the verge of going to Texas before returning to UCLA.
The Bruins open at Hawaii on Aug. 31 before hosting Indiana on Sept. 14 in their Big Ten debut. UCLA then gets one of the toughest three-game stretches in the Big Ten - a Sept. 21 game at No. 13 LSU, hosting No. 3 Oregon on Sept. 21 and Oct. 5 at No. 8 Penn State.
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