Foster is building a foundation with Bruins

PASADENA, California—When Chip Kelly left the UCLA football program, he left behind a team with no direction and nowhere to go. Thanks to the heady work of athletics director Martin Jarmond and the guidance of first-year head coach DeShaun Foster, the Bruins now at least have direction. 

“When you talk to our players, they’re echoing the same thing that I’m saying or that our other coaches are saying,” Foster said after the Bruins had upset Iowa, 20-17. “They’re truly locked into the process. They understand that we had to build the foundation first before we could put the house up. I’m just glad that I have players that had the patience. Nobody was coming in here asking to redshirt.” 

Despite Kelly leaving the cupboard bare regarding talent and team continuity, Foster has managed to provide his program with purpose and guidance. Although the 2024 college football season has been less than ideal for Foster and the Bruins, UCLA is reforming its program’s foundation.  

This is the football program’s first season playing in the Big Ten Conference after years of exercising gridiron entertainment in the Pac-12 Conference. Statistically, UCLA’s record in the Big Ten is nothing to write home about. The Bruins sit in the 15th position in the remake version of the Big Ten. 

This year, however, has been a tough transition for the Bruins. Looking at a much different financial windfall, UCLA, like so many of the former Pac-12 Conference teams, jumped ship to the Big Ten Conference beginning this season. 

With a game left on their 2024 schedule, the Bruins as they have done all season long, have fought and grinded against every opponent they’ve played. That was exhibited in the Bruins’ 19-13 defeat at the hands of rival USC at the Rose Bowl Stadium. 

Foster had a difficult time grasping the defeat, taking the loss hard. 

“It’s just frustrating,” Foster said after the game. “It’s just frustrating. I wish that we could have come out on top. I felt like we earned the right to win that game, just during the week, the way that we practiced, coming off that loss on a Friday night [at Washington]. The guys just really approached it the way that they needed to. We let one slip through our hands.”

The good thing about Foster is that he doesn’t make excuses for his team-win or lose. Sure, we can talk about the task of adjusting to playing in a more physical conference like the Big Ten, but at the end of the day wins and losses are determined by execution. 

“All of these losses have come to pretty much us just letting it slip through our hands. We have to find a way to finish games and just keep coming out after the half and play better and finish a game. We have to really put our stamp on the end of it. We’ve just got to learn from this,” Foster added.  

For the most part, Foster and the Bruins didn’t throw in the towel on the season. Despite going 3-5 in the Big Ten Conference, the Bruins have battled whomever they played. They’ve competed. That’s about all you can ask of these student-athletes. 

At the end of the day, though, a loss, especially to your crosstown rivals, stings.  In 2023, UCLA whupped up on Caleb Williams and USC for a win. The Trojans flipped the narrative on the Bruins this time around. 

Down 13-9 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, USC outscored UCLA 10-0 in the final period to secure their sixth win (6-5, 4-5 Big Ten Conference) on the season. This loss was a hard one for the UCLA players. 

“It sucks,” UCLA linebacker Kain Medrano remarked. “Not much to it, we really wanted this one. For us seniors, keep the bell at home. To break that streak of the home team losing was kind of a big thing for us. So to not get that done, it sucks.”