UCLA Football Coach DeShaun Foster Is Impressed With How Hard Indiana Plays

DeShaun Foster, a first-year head coach like Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, had his press conference on Monday and spoke highly of the Hoosiers.

Todd Golden | Sep 9, 2024

UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and UCLA play each other in their Big Ten openers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. It’s an unfamiliar matchup for both schools – they’ve never played one another in football – as the Big Ten Conference embarks on its new coast-to-coast, 18-team era.

It also pairs two coaches who couldn’t be more different in their dealings with the media.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti came out swinging in his public statements after he was hired in November 2023. He was brash, confident and unfiltered. He’s since toned down the rhetoric, but it’s always an open question when the filter is going to come off and the off-the-cuff talk might begin.

UCLA football coach DeShaun Foster, also in his first season in charge, is much different.

The six-year NFL veteran – he rushed for 800-plus yards three times from 2005-07 for the Carolina Panthers – and UCLA alum is not the loquacious type.

Foster famously demonstrated this during Big Ten Media Days in August. Each coach is expected to make a speech in front of the assembled media and the TV audience watching on Big Ten Network.

Some Big Ten coaches use the speech to filibuster their way out of media questions, but that was not part of Foster’s agenda during UCLA’s turn in the Big Ten spotlight.

Foster’s speech was brief as he was clearly not comfortable being in front of the cameras to make a speech.

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster's opening statement at Big Ten Football Media Day: pic.twitter.com/albWayyLA9
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) July 24, 2024

“I’m sure you guys don’t know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we’re in L.A. It’s us and USC. I’m just basically excited really. That’s it,” Foster said in a much-viewed moment from Media Days.

Foster showed his sense of humor later by wearing a “We’re In L.A.” t-shirt on the first day of fall camp. Foster – who was promoted from running backs coach to the UCLA job in February after Chip Kelly left to join Ohio State’s staff – is still economic with his words.

He reaffirmed that when he spoke about Indiana during his weekly press conference with the UCLA media on Monday.

“Good team. They played a really good game their last game,” said Foster in his initial thoughts about the Hoosiers, who are coming off of a 77-3 romp over Western Illinois Friday.

Foster did expound on those thoughts.

“They’re an explosive team. They play hard. That’s their thing. Tough guys who are going to play hard, and they’re not a team that’s going to beat themselves,” Foster said.

Foster knows that Cignetti has brought much of his successful 2023 James Madison team with him to Bloomington – 13 players in all – and that those former Dukes have laid the foundation for Indiana’s 2-0 start.

“You sense that. They’re just experienced guys who know their role and play to that. They do that at a high level,” Foster noted.

When asked to pinpoint the strength of Indiana’s offense, Foster was once again a man of few words.

Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (9) runs during the Indiana versus Western Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

“I’d say their quarterback,” said Foster, referring to Indiana signal-caller Kurtis Rourke, who has completed 30 of 41 passes for 448 yards and three touchdowns in Indiana’s pair of wins.

Foster also noted UCLA has played just once – a narrow 16-13 win at Hawaii on Aug. 31. Indiana has played twice.

On one hand, in the battle of two programs with new coaches, Indiana has had one more game to get used to Cignetti’s ways of doing things. On the other? UCLA has one more game to try to pick up Indiana tendencies on film.

“It’s really good. Anytime you can get more intel on somebody, it’s good. To watch them play another football game is good for us,” Foster said.

Cignetti also made mention of this factor during his press conference on Monday.

“Having two games under your belt is beneficial in terms of your team development. In terms of the tape, maybe they've got some more relevant stuff to look at from us than we have of them,” Cignetti said.

In addition to its Big Ten football debut, it’s also UCLA’s home opener. The Bruins have not lost their home opener since 2019.

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