The new era of UCLA Bruins football is officially here with DeShaun Foster taking over for Chip Kelly.
Grace Raynor of The Athletic answered some questions about UCLA’s early running with DeShaun Foster as the head coach, and here’s some of what she wrote (subscription required):
Any thoughts on DeShaun Foster’s start at UCLA?
…It’s too early to make any definitive judgments, but I like the hire from a recruiting standpoint.
Whereas Chip Kelly wasn’t particularly passionate — to be kind — about recruiting, Foster is bringing a fresh perspective to the trail for the Bruins, who haven’t won 10 games since 2014. Foster obviously knows the school and the program well…
He’ll need to work with boosters to make UCLA competitive in the NIL space, but he could be a promising up-and-comer whom donors want to get behind. That said, the Bruins have a little bit of catching up to do in the Class of 2025 if they want to be competitive as they transition to the Big Ten. UCLA has just five commits with an average player rating of 87.52.
It has been a bit of a slow grind, but the Bruins have picked up a number of intriguing commitments lately, which shows that whatever Foster and his staff are doing is working. If they win games in 2024, even more recruits will be interested in coming to Westwood.