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UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Freezes Early During Big Ten Media Day

UCLA's new head coach froze and stuttered on stage during his opening statement at Big Ten Media Day.

Sam Garcia

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
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The Big Ten's 18 teams joined together in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Big Ten Media Day. The teams discussed the details of the upcoming season.

UCLA and USC are the two newest additions to the Big Ten after announcing their departure from the Pac-12 conference in August 2023.

The Bruins' newly hired head coach, former running backs coach DeShaun Foster, did not start his Big Ten coaching career on the right foot. He stuttered and froze during his on-stage opening statement. Despite being a UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer, Foster did not seem to know much about the Bruins' football team.

UCLA hired a new head coach following the resigning of former head coach Chip Kelly, who is now the offensive coordinator for Ohio State. In replacement of Kelly, UCLA brought on former Bruin running back, Deshaun Foster, in February.

Foster played for the Bruins from 1998-2001. Throughout his collegiate career, he set the program rushing record for a true freshman, earning 673 yards.

After his stint at UCLA, Foster was drafted as the 34th overall pick in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers. He played in the NFL for seven years. Foster also played for the San Francisco 49ers during his career.

Following his career in the NFL, Foster returned to Westwood as a student assistant for three years. After leaving the Bruins for one season to coach at Texas Tech, he transitioned into the Bruins' running back coach for seven seasons.

Foster made his way back to the NFL as the running back coach for the Las Vegas Raiders. But, he returned to UCLA for the third time to become the Bruins' 19th head coach in program history.

The Bruins will begin their Big Ten season on October 5 against Penn State. Hopefully by then, Foster will have a better understanding of his team.

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Sam Garcia
SAM GARCIA

Samantha Garcia is a student at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Professional Writing. She is also a sports writer for the Daily Bruin at UCLA.

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