Who is the UCLA football coach? Former Bruins star RB DeShaun Foster takes over for Chip Kelly

Though it’s known primarily as a basketball school, UCLA has a storied, admirable and occasionally overlooked football tradition.

The Bruins have 17 conference championships, a national championship (in 1954) and a Heisman Trophy winner (Gary Beban in 1967). They have a higher all-time win percentage than, among others, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon and West Virginia. Over the course of its history, the program has been home to figures ranging from TV stars (Mark Harmon) to pioneering forces in American society (Jackie Robinson).

The 2024 college football season represents a dawn of a new era for UCLA. It’s among the four former Pac-12 programs — along with Washington, Oregon and crosstown rival USC — that will be making their debut in the Big Ten.

The Bruins will be taking that significant step with a new coach, too.

As its 2024 season opener Saturday at Hawaii looms, here’s what you need to know about UCLA’s coach, his background and how the Bruins got to this point:

Who is the UCLA football coach?

Heading into its first season as a member of the Big Ten, UCLA will be led by newly minted head coach DeShaun Foster.

Foster was hired by the Bruins in February after spending the previous eight seasons as the program’s running backs coach. Foster had left earlier in the month to become the Las Vegas Raiders running backs coach, but was quickly lured back to UCLA.

The move was met with resounding enthusiasm from the UCLA team, who mobbed Foster in excitement after athletic director Martin Jarmond announced him as the new coach.

"We are looking for a coach with integrity, energy and passion; someone who is a great teacher, who develops young men, is a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape to help our student-athletes," Jarmond said in a statement at the time. "DeShaun checks all of those boxes and then some. He is a leader of men and a true Bruin."

Foster is a former UCLA running back who played at the school from 1998-2001, making his elevation to head coach that much more significant.

"This is a dream come true," Foster said in a statement after he was hired. "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, and I'm grateful for this opportunity. The foundation of this program will be built on discipline, respect and enthusiasm."

Foster’s first high-profile public moment in the months after his hiring was an awkward one. At Big Ten media days in Indianapolis in July, Foster began his news conference with a short opening statement in which he touted the program’s past accomplishments, history and location before drifting into a 15-second pause.

"I’m sure you guys don’t know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we’re in LA," Foster said, adding that UCLA and USC are the two programs in the country’s second-largest city before becoming silent for an uncomfortably long stretch.

"I’m just basically excited, really," Foster said, breaking the pause. "That’s it."

For as much publicity as it received, it was an understandable slip-up for someone who had spent the entirety of his coaching career as an assistant and was not used to speaking in such large-scale settings. In the days that followed, he played it off well, too, even wearing a shirt that read “WE’RE IN LA” during UCLA’s first practice of fall training camp.

His time as the Bruins’ running backs coach was actually his second stint at his alma mater. He was a volunteer assistant at the school in 2013 and the following year, he completed his degree and graduated. In 2015, he was elevated to director of player development and high school relations. After that season, he spent one year as the running backs coach at Texas Tech under Kliff Kingsbury before returning to UCLA in the same role.

Here's a look at Foster’s various coaching stops:

• 2013-14: UCLA, volunteer assistant

• 2015: UCLA, director of player development and high school relations

• 2016: Texas Tech, running backs coach

• 2017-23: UCLA, running backs coach

• 2024-present: UCLA, head coach

Where is Chip Kelly?

Foster’s promotion was made possible by a notable departure.

After serving as the UCLA head coach for six seasons, from 2018-23, Chip Kelly left the Bruins to become the new offensive coordinator at Ohio State. The move reunited Kelly with Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, who played quarterback for Kelly when he was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire from 1999-2006.

The move occurred in early February, a very late stage in the college football coaching hiring cycle. The timing, as Jarmond acknowledged after Kelly’s exit, was “a challenge,” though it wasn’t entirely unexpected, as Kelly had interviewed for several vacant NFL offensive coordinator positions in the preceding weeks.

Kelly, who was under contract until 2027, went 35-34 at UCLA, including a 26-26 mark in Pac-12 play. The Bruins improved over the course of his tenure, going 25-13 in his final three seasons.

DeShaun Foster playing career

Foster played for the Bruins for four seasons, rushing for 10 touchdowns as a freshman on a team that made the Rose Bowl in 1998 and capping off his career in style as a senior in 2001, with 1,109 rushing yards, 5.1 yards per carry and 12 touchdowns.

He was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the No. 34 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. After missing the entire 2002 season with an injury, Foster helped the Panthers get to Super Bowl XXXVIII, where he had a 33-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter in a 32-29 loss to the New England Patriots.

Over his seven-year NFL career, much of which came with the Panthers, Foster rushed for 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns, along with 1,129 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

DeShaun Foster record

As a first-time head coach, Foster has a career record of 0-0.

DeShaun Foster age

Foster is 44 years old.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is the UCLA football coach? DeShaun Foster takes over for Chip Kelly