UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Wants Bruins to 'Play Ball,' Not Just Talk About Playing Big Ten Teams

Foster is headed into his first season as the UCLA head coach.

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA football head coach DeShaun Foster did not say much when he introduced his team to the Big Ten conference at Big Ten Media Day in July. During the opening statement that ended up going viral, Foster reminded the audience that UCLA is in L.A., before pausing for an extended period. He closed off his speech by simply saying, "I’m just basically excited, really. That’s it."

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster with a really awkward Big Ten media day opening statement pic.twitter.com/dHX5ayP7K3

— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) July 24, 2024

While Foster caught flack for the speech, he knows that talking won't help his team win any games over the course of the season. Foster doesn't prefer to talk the talk, but would rather his team show who they are through their play.

“We’ve got to play ball,” Foster said, via Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. “That’s why talking isn’t really my forte because you can talk all you want and you get out here and lay an egg and now what? Or you can not be a good talker and get out here and get these boys to play some ball, and that’s what it’s about.”

The first-time head coach might not wow with his words or his speech, but he knows it's most important for him to remain true to himself. After all, that's the person who earned his position as head coach, and won over the UCLA players when he took over for former head coach Chip Kelly.

That's the person who was a great running back for some of the best Bruins' teams in program history and went on to have a career in the NFL. The buy-in would not be the same if Foster was acting as someone else for the sake of appealing to others in a press conference.

Rather, Foster has led the team by instilling his three pillars — discipline, respect, and enthusiasm — as the foundation for the program and their mindset. Foster believes that if his players practice and play by these pillars, the team will find their way to success.

His plan will get tested for the first time next Saturday, when the Bruins play their first game of the season at Hawaii on Aug. 31.

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