UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Breaks Down Pillars of Bruins' Program

Discipline, respect, and enthusiasm.

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Since his introduction as UCLA football's next head coach, DeShaun Foster has emphasized that his three pillars as coach are discipline, respect, and enthusiasm. These pillars are what Foster wants to instill in his team, find in new recruits, and believe will drive them to success.

At Big Ten Media Day, Foster went into depth explaining why he chose three traits as the pillar of his programs. He began with discipline, a characteristic that was instilled in him by his father, an ex-marine. Foster re-called his father saying, 'There's nobody successful that's not disciplined,' and he brought that mentality to UCLA when he was the running back coach from 2017-23.

The discipline Foster passed on to his running backs clearly paid off, as they were one of the team's most successful units recently. UCLA's run offense has ranked top-20 in yards per game each of the last four seasons. Several Bruins backs have also gone on to get drafted and play in the NFL, notably including Joshua Kelley and Zach Charbonnet.

After discipline, Foster prioritizes respect. Foster finds it important not only for his players to respect the game of football and their teammates, but women and their professors as well. Finally, Foster closed out with the importance of enthusiasm.

"We just got to have fun," Foster said on Big Ten Network. "This is football, have fun out there. When you're having fun, you'll do anything ... I just want my guys to be out there and have fun, and show the brand of football that we play."

These three pillars are set to guide UCLA football as they enter into the Big Ten, the largest power-five conference in college football. The Bruins begin their season on Aug. 31 against Hawaii, before starting Big Ten play on Sep. 14 against Indiana.

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