Foster

The fallout from UCLA coach DeShaun Foster’s dismissal deepened Wednesday when interim coach Tim Skipper disclosed that defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe had agreed to “mutually part ways” with the team, depriving the Bruins of one of their most respected assistant coaches.

Meeting with reporters for the first time since he was selected to coach the team for the rest of the season, Skipper said he didn’t know the specifics of Malloe’s departure. One person close to the coaching staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, told The Times that Malloe couldn’t get past blaming himself for the team’s 0-3 start, even suggesting that he be fired instead of Foster, so it was agreed that it would be best if he took time to regroup and focus on himself.

UCLA interim head football coach Tim Skipper claps as players participate in practice at Drake Stadium on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

It’s believed that Skipper will be given the resources needed to bolster his coaching staff if he wanted to bring in another assistant. In the meantime, Skipper said the team would take a collaborative approach among remaining staff to coaching the defense.

Malloe was a favorite of players and was known for demanding as much from himself as anyone on the team, choking up early last season when he discussed the need to fix the Bruins’ defense. After Malloe made two personnel switches, moving Oluwafami Oladejo from linebacker to edge rusher while elevating linebacker Carson Schwesinger into the starting lineup, UCLA’s defense went on to be a team strength.

Even though UCLA’s defense struggled in the early going this season, giving up 36 points and 431 yards per game, Malloe remained universally adored by players.

“I know some of the defensive guys loved him so much, and sorry to see him go,” offensive tackle Garrett DiGiorgio said. “Initial reaction as a man, he’s a great person, great family person, and he brought so much value to this team. It’s just unfortunate that I feel like he felt somewhat responsible, along with Foster as well. All we can do is support him on his next step, and hopefully he can come back and see the guys at some point.”

There were no immediate roster defections, Skipper saying that every player was accounted for going into one of the team’s longest practices of the season. Players will have 30 days to enter the transfer portal after their coach bid them farewell during an emotional meeting Sunday morning.

DiGiorgio said Foster told the players who were able to attend the hastily arranged meeting early in the team’s bye week to keep their heads up and keep pushing. Making things all the more difficult was the culpability that some players beared for the team’s fortunes.

“I felt somewhat accountable as a player and as a captain,” DiGiorgio said, “of letting him down as head coach.”

UCLA interim head football coach Tim Skipper talks with media before practice at Drake Stadium on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Skipper acknowledged the strain of replacing a close friend who had visited his parents’ house and eaten his mother’s cooking, saying he considered Foster part of his family.

“It definitely wasn’t just great feelings and things like that,” Skipper said of the situation, “but we both know we’ve got to move on.”

This is the second time in as many seasons that Skipper will serve as an interim coach after taking over for Jeff Tedford in July 2024 and guiding Fresno State to a 6-7 record that included an appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Having served in an inconspicuous role since his arrival as special assistant to the head coach in the middle of July, Skipper spent part of the last few days introducing himself to players and letting them know about his history as a former middle linebacker at Fresno State who has made coaching stops at eight schools.

First impressions have been positive.

“His initial energy and just the way he is in meetings,” DiGiorgio said, “I think he’s trying to uplift us as athletes and he’s not really trying to focus too much on what happened but more on the future and what we can do.”

Skipper was upbeat in his first public remarks since taking over for Foster, shaking every reporter’s hand before encouraging them to call him “Skip,” his preferred nickname. He said he would treat this bye week as a sort of mini-training camp before shifting into game preparation mode for the Bruins’ Big Ten Conference opener against Northwestern on Sept. 27.

“We are completely resetting,” Skipper said. “We’re not going to dwell on the past, we’re not going to dream about the future. We’re going to worry about right now.”

How do the Bruins go from the Big Ten’s only winless team to one that can start having success?

“We need to change our style of play, as far as how hard and how fast and how physical we play, OK?” Skipper said. “Starting with me and the rest of the staff, we have to make sure we simplify things so guys can play full speed ahead and there’s less thinking. That’s kind of my whole motto.”

Rediscovering the joy in football is part of that new approach. DiGiorgio said players are starting to play music in the locker room again, the offensive lineman bringing in his own portable sound system for everyone to enjoy.

“We’ve got to be able to come out here and not treat practice as practice,” DiGiorgio said, “but more as something that we get to do and we have the ability to be on this team.”

DiGiorgio said players would also meet with athletic director Martin Jarmond every Sunday to talk about how things are going with the team and try to build momentum for the rest of the season. Jarmond received public support for the coaching change Wednesday in a statement from Chancellor Julio Frenk provided to The Times.

“At a top university like UCLA, a successful football program plays a powerful role in building community and strengthening connections,” Frenk said in the statement. “I support Martin Jarmond’s decision to replace the football coach. As the leader of our athletics program, he will oversee the process of hiring a new head coach who will elevate UCLA football to national prominence and uphold our commitment to ensuring the best experience for our student-athletes.”

As far as the rest of this season goes, Skipper said he wouldn’t measure success by wins and losses but style of play.

“We need to get out there and give a product that everybody’s proud of,” Skipper said, “that’s exactly all I’m worried about.”

The Fresno State football players wanted to be heard after so much frustration, so much uncertainty.

A season that had started with their coach leaving the job because of health problems, only to deteriorate further with four losses in six games during a maddening midseason stretch, was now back firmly on the upswing.

Their temporary coach having steadied them through every challenge, including his own uncertain future, those players yearned to preserve what might have been the best part of a burdensome season.

“We want Skip!” the players chanted in the locker room last November after a victory over Colorado State that made them eligible for a bowl game. “We want Skip!”

Tim Skipper, the interim coach who was practically a Fresno State lifer after having starred as a speck of a linebacker for the Bulldogs before going on to coach for them in various capacities, was making the best of what he had to work with once more.

It wasn’t the first or last time he would be needed in that capacity. The Bulldogs had tapped him to serve as the acting coach for a bowl game the previous season after coach Jeff Tedford’s first bout of health issues, and now UCLA is turning to Skipper to lead its team after the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday after the Bruins’ 0-3 start.

It’s an especially difficult spot given Skipper’s ties to his longtime friend, who hired him before this season as a special assistant to the head coach and once called himself “an honorary Skipper.” Skipper’s father, Jim, was Foster’s running backs coach with the Carolina Panthers. Skipper’s brother, Kelly, had been Foster’s running backs coach at UCLA.

“You know, DeShaun is kind of like family,” Jim Skipper said. “Tim’s got his work cut out, he knows that. But he’s up for the challenge. He’s been an underdog his whole life.”

This might be Tim Skipper’s greatest test, far greater than the six consecutive plays inside the three-yard line that the middle linebacker helped Fresno State stymie Ohio State during a goal-line stand in 2000. Among the biggest difficulties facing Skipper are rallying team morale and keeping the roster intact after a winless start that led to the firing of the coach who brought these players into the program. There’s also an offense and a defense that rank among the worst in the country and a persistent penalty problem.

“I know from the outside, people may look and say, the talent’s not changing, this imposing schedule isn’t changing, how can anyone expect different results?” said Paul Loeffler, Fresno State’s radio play-by-play announcer. “But I would say he’s a guy who can foster belief in young men because he believes. He’s relentlessly positive and it’s not fake positivity.

“There’s a gravitas there that I think the players would buy into and as hard as it’s going to be for him because of how close he and DeShaun have been for a long time, I think the way he attacks this opportunity will probably be colored by his experience last year.”

It was easy for Fresno State to turn to Skipper in July 2024 given his performance in guiding the Bulldogs to a 37-10 victory over New Mexico State in the New Mexico Bowl at the end of the previous season. The bowl triumph was welcome relief from a three-game losing streak and worries about Tedford after the coach stepped aside to address health issues.

After the game, Skipper dedicated the victory to his boss.

“He did a wonderful job getting our team prepared and ready for the bowl,” said Terry Tumey, the former UCLA nose guard who appointed Skipper as interim coach in December 2023 when Tumey was Fresno State’s athletic director. “This is a much larger stage, of course, but it’s not a foreign proposition for him to be in an interim situation and kind of taking over and kind of keeping things at bay as the administration figures out its next direction.”

Less than a year ago, Skipper made Fresno State seriously consider giving him the Bulldogs’ permanent job. The team got off to a 5-2 start before second-half slipups against Hawaii and Air Force were followed by a loss to UCLA in which the Bulldogs managed just a field goal after halftime.

Four days later, Fresno State athletic director Garrett Klassy hired USC linebackers coach Matt Entz as the Bulldogs’ new coach. Skipper eventually found a landing spot on Foster’s staff.

“He’s just somebody that’s very knowledgeable and he knows me,” Foster said in July. “So it’s just somebody that I know I can trust, and I’m just excited to be able to add somebody with that type of knowledge to our team.”

Given a new, unexpected opportunity as Foster’s replacement, Skipper, 47, might use any lingering disappointment from his last interim stop as motivation.

“Knowing Tim,” Tumey said, “he’s going to want to prove that he has what it takes to be a head coach, whether it’s this opportunity or somewhere else, and so he has something to prove too. I think our entire program at UCLA, we all have something to prove.”

Skipper’s lengthy coaching career has included stops at Western New Mexico, Sacramento State, Colorado State, Florida, Nevada Las Vegas and Central Michigan in addition to multiple stints at Fresno State. He’s mostly coached on defense but has spent four seasons as a running backs coach.

Scheduled to meet with the UCLA media for the first time on Wednesday morning, Skipper is known for a magnetic personality that allows him to quickly build trust among players. He’s already instituted one meaningful change in allowing photos and videos to be taken at practices after his predecessor had barred that custom.

“He’s so genuine, he’s so engaging, he’s got a million-dollar smile and he’s just present,” Loeffler said, “so I think he’s got a gift in terms of connecting.”

But he’s no softie. Pat Hill, the legendary former Fresno State coach known for backing up his “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” mantra with victories over major-conference opponents, said his onetime star defender who still ranks as the second-leading tackler in school history will rise to his latest challenge.

“When he walks into a room, take away the stature — he’s a small guy, he’s 5 feet 8 — but he commands the room and he will get the respect of the team immediately,” Hill said. “I guarantee the team will play with more emotion and they will play harder now.

“I don’t know what the wins and losses will be with the people they have, I really don’t know enough about it, but from a standpoint of leadership and getting a message to the team, he’ll be outstanding.”

Tumey said the expectations going into UCLA’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sept. 27 should be for Skipper to stabilize the program, make sure the Bruins are competitive in conference play and support his players.

But what if UCLA starts unexpectedly rolling off one victory after another?

“Hey, stranger things have happened,” Tumey said. “I was a part of that 0-3-1 football team that ended up going to the Rose Bowl [in 1986]. So you never know.”

From Ben Bolch: The DeShaun Foster era is over after 15 games and just five victories, the former UCLA star running back’s storybook rise to head coach at his alma mater coming to an abrupt, deflating end.

After an 0-3 start that included back-to-back losses to Mountain West Conference teams, Foster was dismissed on Sunday in a move that showed the Bruins will no longer accept their status as the laughingstock of the college football world.

Tim Skipper, the former Fresno State interim coach who was brought in as a special assistant to Foster before this season, will serve as the interim coach for the rest of the season as the school commences a search for a permanent replacement.

UCLA was outscored by a 108-43 margin in its first three losses, leading to trolling tweets from the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences in addition to widespread ridicule from national media figures who noted that the Bruins had clinched last place in the Mountain West and were the only remaining winless team in the Big Ten.

Athletic director Martin Jarmond said he made the decision to remove Foster after consultation with UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk, acting swiftly because there was no clear path to success in the Big Ten even with an extra week to prepare for the conference opener against Northwestern on Sept. 26.

“I felt with the timing, the bye week,” Jarmond said, “it gave our young men the opportunity to just take a breath, recalibrate and change some things that give them the best chance to finish out the season strong and also as a signal to our fans that this is not what Bruin football is going to be.”

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Plaschke: UCLA can’t afford to let Martin Jarmond hire its next football coach

DODGERS

The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, center, celebrates with Kiké Hernández after scoring on Miguel Rojas’ single during the sixth inning Sunday against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

From Bill Shaikin: This is the time to bring on the rivals. The Dodgers are used to taking on challengers down the pennant stretch: the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres — and, in a previous version of the National League West, the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.

The final two weeks of the regular season are upon us. The Dodgers have one remaining head-to-head matchup that really matters — and that series starts Monday at Dodger Stadium, against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies?

The Phillies have not been realigned into the NL West. However, although the three division champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, the two with the best records earn a bye into the division series. The division champion with the third-best record — right now, that would be the Dodgers — must play in the first round.

The Milwaukee Brewers, the presumed champions of the NL Central, boast the best record in baseball. The Phillies, the presumed champions of the NL East, lead the Dodgers by 4 ½ games. The Dodgers have 13 games to play.

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ALSO: Another offensive outburst carries Dodgers to series win over Giants

Dodgers-Giants box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford speaks during a news conference after a 33-19 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

(John Amis / Associated Press)

From Gary Klein: Sean McVay did not plan to wait long to begin dissecting the Rams next opponent: the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.

After his team stayed unbeaten on Sunday with a 33-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium, McVay aimed to take in the Eagles’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs during the plane ride back to Los Angeles.

“It will be fun to watch it,” said McVay, whose team plays the Eagles next Sunday, “as long as the damn WiFi on the plane works.”

Technical difficulties or otherwise, McVay and the Rams are feeling pretty good about themselves.

And rightfully, but perhaps cautiously, so.

Victories over the Houston Texans and the Titans were nice tune-ups that showed the Rams can indeed be Super Bowl contenders.

Now the real season — and test — begins.

The Eagles are the real measuring stick for the Rams, who are seeking their third Super Bowl appearance in eight years.

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Rams-Titans summary

NFL scores

NFL standings

CHARGERS

Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5.

(Doug Benc / Associated Press)

From Anthony De Leon: The Chargers embracing an opposite approach in play-calling — moving away from a run-heavy philosophy — left many bemused during their season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil.

Justin Herbert was given free rein to showcase his arm, firing pass after pass against the defending AFC champions. This approach hinged on trust; not necessarily in Herbert’s ability, but in his receivers’ capabilities.

“It’s all about having a clear mind and trust,” Quentin Johnston said. “Trusting the play call, and then trusting yourself to get open. Trusting Justin that the ball will be in the right place when you get open.”

A byproduct of learning a new system last year, with young receivers thrust into pivotal roles, Herbert and his wideouts looked out of sync at times, whether from a lack of trust, chemistry or rhythm.

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ANGELS

From the Associated Press: Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle’s season record for most home runs by a switch hitter with his 54th, and the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to nine by routing the Angels 11-2 Sunday to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time since June.

With the loss, the Angels will finish the year without a winning record for the 10th consecutive season.

George Kirby matched his career high with 14 strikeouts as the Mariners completed a four-game sweep and won for the 20th time in their last 23 home games.

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Angels-Mariners box score

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1899 — Willie Smith wins the U.S. Open golf title, beating George low, Val Fitzjohn and W.H. Way.

1923 — Bill Tilden wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship, beating William Johnston in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

1962 — Frank Tripucka of the Denver Broncos passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1971 — Stan Smith wins the U.S. Open title over Jan Khodes and Billie Jean King beats Rosemary Casals for the women’s title. It’s the first time in 16 years both titles were won by U.S. players.

1973 — Three-year-old Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in the then-world record time of 1:45 2-5 for 11/8 miles.

1973 — Archie Griffin of Ohio State starts his NCAA record string of 31 games of rushing for at least 100 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a 56-7 rout of Minnesota in Columbus.

1978 — Muhammad Ali becomes the first three-time heavyweight champion with a unanimous 15-round decision over Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans.

1991 — The United States women’s gymnastics team makes history with its first team medal — a silver — at the World Championships in Indianapolis.

1995 — Cards shortstop Ozzie Smith sets record of 1,554 double plays.

2002 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins another incredible race at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second straight IRL title. Hornish side-by-side with Helio Castroneves for many of the last 25 laps in the season-ending Chevy 500, crosses the finish line 0.0096 seconds — only a few inches — ahead of the other driver in contention for the season championship. Hornish wins his IRL-record fifth race of the season and becomes the first driver to win two IRL championships.

2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon begins NFL record-tying (Kurt Warner, Steve Young) streak of 6 consecutive 300-yard passing games, throwing for 403 yards in Raiders’ 30-17 victory at Pittsburgh.

2004 — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

2012 — LSU beats Idaho 63-14 to give the Tigers an NCAA FBS record 40th-straight non-conference regular season victory. LSU also set a Tiger Stadium mark with 20 straight home wins. Kansas State had 39 straight non-conference regular-season wins from 1993-2003.

2013 — Philip Rivers is 36 of 47 for 419 yards and three touchdown passes to Eddie Royal to lead San Diego to a 33-30 victory at Philadelphia. Michael Vick of the Eagles passes for a career-best 428 yards and two touchdowns and runs for a score.

2017 — The Cleveland has its AL record run stopped at 22 straight games as the Indians are beaten 4-3 by the Kansas City Royals.

2018 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores his 500th worldwide goal in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 5-3 loss to Toronto FC. The 36-year-old Swede joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only active players with 500 goals for in club and international play.

2021 — US gymnasts, including Simone Biles, testify against former team doctor Larry Nassar at a Senate Committee hearing, criticizing a system that allowed it to happen.

2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer announces his retirement from professional tennis at 41 with 20 grand slam wins and 103 ATP titles.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

The DeShaun Foster era is over after 15 games and just five victories, the former UCLA star running back’s storybook rise to head coach at his alma mater coming to an abrupt, deflating end.

After an 0-3 start that included back-to-back losses to Mountain West Conference teams, Foster was dismissed on Sunday in a move that showed the Bruins will no longer accept their status as the laughingstock of the college football world.

Tim Skipper, the former Fresno State interim coach who was brought in as a special assistant to Foster before this season, will serve as the interim coach for the rest of the season as the school commences a search for a permanent replacement.

UCLA was outscored by a 108-43 margin in its first three losses, leading to trolling tweets from the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences in addition to widespread ridicule from national media figures who noted that the Bruins had clinched last place in the Mountain West and were the only remaining winless team in the Big Ten.

Athletic director Martin Jarmond said he made the decision to remove Foster after consultation with UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk, acting swiftly because there was no clear path to success in the Big Ten even with an extra week to prepare for the conference opener against Northwestern on Sept. 26.

“I felt with the timing, the bye week,” Jarmond said, “it gave our young men the opportunity to just take a breath, recalibrate and change some things that give them the best chance to finish out the season strong and also as a signal to our fans that this is not what Bruin football is going to be.”

Jarmond accepted responsibility for having hired Foster in February 2024 after a process lasting less than 72 hours and said he regretted putting the rookie coach in a difficult situation going into a new conference after national signing day with just half a year to prepare.

“I think you make the best decisions with the circumstances and the resources that you have to work with,” Jarmond said, referring to the constraints of still having the reduced revenue of Pac-12 membership combined with a condensed timeline.

Foster, who compiled a 5-10 record in a little more than one full season, is owed roughly $6.43 million in buyout money per the terms of his five-year contract, barring a new job that offsets that amount. UCLA said it would pay Foster’s buyout from athletic department-generated funds.

“Serving as the head coach at UCLA, my beloved alma mater, has been the honor of a lifetime,” Foster said in a statement. “While I am deeply disappointed that we were unable to achieve the success that our players, fans, and university deserve, I am grateful for the opportunity to have led this program.”

Starting Monday, the coaching change will open a 30-day transfer window for UCLA players who want to leave for other teams. Since the Bruins have not played four games, departing players will have the option to use a redshirt season but not immediately play for their new team.

The Bruins already appear to have lost three high school recruits after Johnnie Jones, a four-star offensive tackle from Bradenton, Fla.; Anthony Jones, a three-star defensive lineman from Irvine Crean Lutheran High; and Yahya Gaad, a three-star edge rusher from Medina, Tenn., said they were no longer committed to the school.

Foster’s dismissal shifts the spotlight onto Jarmond, who made the unconventional move to hire Foster despite Foster’s having no experience as a coordinator or head coach. Jarmond’s reluctance to fire coach Chip Kelly at the end of the previous season after the Bruins had absorbed embarrassing home losses to Arizona State and California necessitated the need for a quick replacement once Kelly left to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, leading some to blame the athletic director for leaving the football program in such a bind.

“I understand the criticism,” Jarmond said. “What I’ll remind you is these decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. There are many stakeholders and factors that go into where and when and how to make a coaching change. That said, ultimately, I’m the athletic director. I’m the steward of this program, and the buck stops with me.”

Foster’s biggest selling points were his status as a legendary UCLA player who had appeared in the Bruins’ last Rose Bowl game in 1999 and his success as a running backs coach at the school under previous head coaches Jim Mora and Kelly.

During a meeting at Jarmond’s home the night before Foster’s hiring, the candidate told his future boss that he would win through a relentless approach.

DeShaun Foster, left, holds up a UCLA jersey with athletic director Martin Jarmond after being introduced as UCLA’s new football coach on Feb. 13, 2024.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

“He said, ‘Listen, Martin, no one’s going to outwork me, no one’s going to outwork this program,’” Jarmond said on the day of Foster’s introductory news conference. “ ‘If we lose a game, it’s going to be because we just weren’t good enough that day. But I guarantee you, I’m going to do everything I can and in my power to make this program successful.’ ”

In announcing the move, UCLA said a comprehensive national search for Foster’s replacement would involve Jarmond and executive senior associate athletics director Erin Adkins, who would be assisted by a committee composed of accomplished sports and business executives and UCLA greats that would be announced once finalized.

What will the Bruins be seeking in their next coach during a search that’s expected to last several months unless an ideal candidate who is available suddenly materializes?

“It’s got to be someone who exemplars our true Bruin values — respect, integrity and just understands those four letters,” Jarmond said, “but we’ll be looking for a coach quite frankly who sees the vision to take UCLA to the playoffs. We want to win at the highest level.”

Jarmond emphasized that this search was very different than the one that led to Foster’s hiring, noting the increased resources available because of UCLA’s move to the Big Ten and the extended timeline that will presumably lead to a wider pool of attractive candidates.

Jarmond touted Foster’s passion and integrity among the biggest factors that led to his hiring, and it didn’t hurt that the coach was wildly popular among returning players, allowing the Bruins to keep much of their roster intact heading into his debut season.

But Foster’s inexperience showed in his first game, the coach admitting he was nervous and unsure about how to address reporters after his team rallied for a victory over Hawaii. The Bruins started the season 1-5 before winning four of their last six games, momentarily steadying Foster’s standing with donors and fans.

A flurry of offseason moves in which Foster overhauled his coaching staff and scored a number of big recruiting wins, including the acquisition of star Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava from the transfer portal, appeared to show signs of growing on the job. Another promising development came during Big Ten media days in July, when Foster delivered a coherent opening message one year after stumbling his way through widely mocked and memed remarks that included the coach telling reporters, “We’re in L.A.”

But there was also a curious step backward. The coach who initially said he wanted to give his program a family feel, holding a carnival-like spring practice complete with a fire twirler and putting names on the backs of jerseys to help reporters identify players, severely curtailed access to practices and player interviews during training camp.

Foster shrugged off a season-opening 43-10 loss to Utah, saying his team was close to making the plays it needed to be competitive. But a 30-23 setback against Nevada Las Vegas that was followed by a 35-10 blowout against New Mexico showcased a series of worrisome trends.

Foster’s team couldn’t consistently move the ball, get defensive stops or avoid penalties. The Bruins are still seeking their first lead of the 2025 season after having fallen behind 20-0 against Utah, 23-0 against UNLV and 14-0 against New Mexico.

Foster’s pillars of discipline, respect and enthusiasm clearly never took hold given his players’ repeated penalties, lagging preparation for lesser opponents and lack of passion on the sideline.

In his final meeting with reporters before his dismissal, Foster initially blamed his team’s shortcomings on a lack of execution before finally accepting culpability when pressed by a reporter about who was ultimately responsible.

“Everything that happens can fall on me,” said Foster, who turns 46 in January. “I’m the head coach, so it can fall on me.”

Trying to sound upbeat in a monotone voice, Foster said he would use the bye week to make tweaks before the Bruins opened Big Ten play on the road against Northwestern.

“You know, we’ve got two weeks to fix this,” Foster said, “and just looking forward to this opportunity to get it fixed.”

A proud Bruin having met an inglorious ending, those fixes will now be in the hands of someone else.

Well, it is starting to appear that we are on the way to another in a series of mediocre football seasons at my alma mater UCLA.

I am now officially in the “I don’t care about UCLA Football anymore” camp. I graduated from UCLA in 1975 and while every once in a while UCLA will have a somewhat successful season, the best they seem to be able to do is be invited to a second-tier bowl game. The College Football Playoff? Forget about it.

Coach DeShaun Foster is very clearly in way over his head. I predict he will be gone after this season.

Bruce Dunklin
Thousand Oaks

It has to be painfully obvious that the DeShaun Foster experiment at head coach is a dismal failure. The loss to UNLV was not just embarrassing but shameful. It was once said that Foster was Karl Dorrell 2.0, but that is unfair. Dorrell had a 10-win season and beat USC. Coach “We’re Close” Foster is in way over his head. His team is undisciplined and unprepared. This clueless performance will lead to a completely empty Rose Bowl and eventual desertion of NIL sponsors. What is the athletic department going to do when we lose to New Mexico and go 0-12 for the year?

Thomas Auyong
Diamond Bar

DeShaun Foster has to be the worst head coach in UCLA history. If a team is a reflection of their coach, then this is the worst UCLA team every. Does the team have a weight program? They are getting pushed around out there and it’s only going to get uglier. We are going to lose 100-0 to Ohio State.

Ed Villanueva
Chino Hills

UCLA fell for the third consecutive game to open the season, with their drubbing at the hands of New Mexico. Maybe it’s time for AD Martin Jarmond to consider dropping the football program to a lower division, or just dropping football completely (the latter might help balance the athletic budget). Either way, coach DeShaun Foster and the Bruins are in for a long season.

Chris Sorce
Fountain Valley

My 98-year-old father and I are 25-year UCLA football season-ticket holders. We love our Bruin football, but let’s face facts. When our AD, Martin Jarmond, hired coach DeShaun Foster, he looked at us with a straight face and told us that they had interviewed upward of 40 candidates for the head coaching position and that Foster was the best of the group. A man with no offensive, defensive or head-coaching experience.

It sadly is now painfully obvious that Jarmond and Foster should be replaced with more experienced and qualified candidates.

Christopher Armen
Woodland Hills

They’re bad.

They’re really bad.

They’re, like, 0-12 bad.

The Bad News Bruins are a quarter of their way to completing a winless season, and who’s to say they won’t do what no UCLA team has done in more than a century and lose every game they play?

New Mexico tight end Simon Mapa (85) scores in front of UCLA linebacker Isaiah Chisom (32) on fourth down during the first half at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday night.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

They lack discipline, they can’t tackle, they can’t score and their coach sounds as if he has no idea how to extract them from what he acknowledged was the lowest point in his decades associated with their program.

DeShaun Foster once again looked completely out of his depth on Friday night when UCLA was humiliated in a 35-10 defeat to 15 1/2 -point underdog New Mexico, and now the question isn’t if the second-year coach will be fired but when.

Foster said he “most definitely” still felt he was the right coach to lead the program but he failed to make a persuasive case as to why that was the case.

“Because I can get these boys to play,” Foster said.

Did Foster feel as overmatched?

“Nope,” he replied. “Not at all.”

Except Foster looks overmatched. He sounds overmatched.

He has preached discipline to his players, but he either doesn’t know how to effectively deliver the message or teach them to exercise greater self-control. The Bruins committed 13 penalties during their loss to New Mexico, which cost them 116 yards. A week earlier in a defeat to UNLV, the Bruins were flagged for 14 penalties.

Foster didn’t sound as if he had any solutions.

UCLA coach Deshaun Foster leans over with his hands on his thighs while standing on the sidelines during the final moments of the Bruins’ loss to New Mexico at the Rose Bowl on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“It blows my mind,” he said.

UCLA’s run defense, or lack thereof, was equally mind blowing. New Mexico rushed for 298 yards, and that was with starting running back Scottre Humphrey playing only the first quarter because of an injury.

Foster pointed to how the Bruins won four of their last six games last year as a reason he believed they would turn around their season.

However, racking up personal fouls and allowing opponents to run all over you aren’t trademarks of winning football, and considering the magnitude of the problems this year, it’d be naive to think they could be remedied any time soon.

Of course, ultimately responsible for this entire mess is Martin Jarmond, UCLA’s bumbling athletic director.

Jarmond was the one who refused to fire the Bruins’ previous coach, Chip Kelly, after several mediocre seasons. Jarmond was the one who set a self-imposed 96-hour deadline to find a new coach when Kelly suddenly departed the program to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. Jarmond was the one who hired the inexperienced Foster, who could end up being to UCLA what Gerry Faust was to Notre Dame.

Jarmond hasn’t just failed to revive UCLA football. He’s bludgeoned the program to the brink of death.

Jarmond didn’t attend the postgame news conference on Friday, leaving it to Foster to tell fans why they should return to the Rose Bowl for future games.

UCLA offensive lineman Garrett DiGiorgio (72) walks toward the sideline as New Mexico defensive end Darren Agu (10) celebrates stopping the Bruins on a fourth down play in the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“If you’re a real Bruin,” Foster said, “you’ll still be a fan.”

UCLA can buy out the remaining three-plus years of Foster’s contract for upwards of $5 million, and Jarmond might as well be swept out with him whenever that happens, whether it’s during this season or after. With his track record, who could count on Jarmond to find the coach who will elevate the Bruins from college football purgatory?

By now, it’s clear Foster won’t be that coach.

The Bruins have not led at any point of any game this season. They were never ahead of Utah, which blew them out in their season opener. They were never ahead of the two Mountain West Conference teams they played in their two most recent games.

UCLA remains the only Big Ten team without a win, and the Bruins very well could have an 0-fer season.

Foster’s team has a couple of extremely beatable opponents on its schedule in Northwestern and Maryland. Then again, as these early-season games have proven, UCLA is also extremely beatable — maybe even historically beatable.

From his seat inside Allegiant Stadium last weekend, Jorge Morales surrounded himself with the UCLA football gameday essentials.

Pizza. Beer. The Bruins’ roster pulled up on his cellphone.

During the game’s first series, the lifelong fan saw No. 15 on the UCLA defense surge into the Nevada Las Vegas backfield. Morales wondered about the identity of this fast, feisty edge rusher and looked him up. It was Anthony Jones, a transfer from Michigan State.

Later, Morales watched No. 3 in coverage and commenced another search. It was defensive back Robert Stafford III, a transfer from Miami (Fla.).

UNLV’s Var’Keyes Gumms (30) stiff arms UCLA’s Cole Martin (21) while scoring a receiving touchdown at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.

(Ian Maule / Getty Images)

Curious about the starting offensive linemen, Morales went back to his phone once more. He discovered a group that included three new starters in left tackle Courtland Ford and guards Eugene Brooks and Julian Armella — all transfers.

“I didn’t recognize any of the numbers,” Morales said.

Similar bewilderment was playing out in the San Diego living room of Ted Zeigler. Watching the game on his 65-inch television, the self-described hardcore Bruins fan also had the roster pulled up on his phone for ready reference, alternating between one screen and the other.

“This adds another dimension to watching the game that I wasn’t looking for,” Zeigler said. “I just feel disinterested.”

It’s hard to be a UCLA fan these days for reasons that go beyond the team’s 0-2 record. Few recognize more than a handful of names on a roster laden with 57 new players, including 37 transfers in their first season with the team.

The days of starting lineups rife with Bruins who have been in the program for two or three years may have gone the way of New Year’s Day bowl appearances for a team stuck in a decade-long funk.

All the new faces are a function of unlimited transfers in college football — Jones is attending his fourth college in as many years, after previous stops at Michigan State, Indiana and Oregon — and a need to restock the roster after the Bruins lost every starter on defense and seven on offense.

UCLA is hardly the only team experiencing such massive turnover, though that disclaimer has done little to lessen the growing detachment some fans feel watching a team only recognizable because of its uniforms.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava looks to pass during a game against UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.

(Ian Maule / Getty Images)

“College football’s changed,” Bruins coach DeShaun Foster said. “It’s not the same game it was when I played, it’s not the same game that it was when I started coaching and it’s evolving every day, basically.”

For Foster’s team, those changes have involved a curious lack of marketing of newcomers who presumably want to build their brands in an era when they are paid for their name, image and likeness.

From the start of training camp, Foster severely restricted media access. Reporters were allowed to observe stretching, individual drills and a handful of plays involving the offense facing the defense — and even those glimpses of team periods have been eliminated in recent weeks. Requests for feature story interviews involving players and a staff including eight new assistant coaches have largely been not just denied but ignored.

“It’s tough,” Foster said when asked about granting interviews for human-interest stories, “but we’re trying to win games.”

So where does that leave the fans? Some say they’re watching as much out of habit as interest, especially since they know so little about the team they have long loved.

“Foster shielding the media from camp and everything,” said Vic Deverian, a UCLA graduate and longtime season ticket-holder, “you didn’t get a chance to know who the players were, who looked good in practice — you didn’t know any of that stuff. So it’s kind of like going on a lot of blind dates — it’s like, I don’t know who you are but this is where I’m supposed to be on Saturday and I’m going to watch UCLA, but I don’t recognize these players at all.”

Among the new players Deverian has developed a fondness for in the season’s early going are slot receiver Mikey Matthews, quarterback Nico Iamaleava and running back Anthony Woods.

“He’s a talented running back,” Deverian said of Woods, who arrived at UCLA after previous stops at Utah and Idaho. “He needs to get the ball more.”

Utah linebacker Trey Reynolds (37) intercepts the ball as UCLA receiver Kwazi Gilmer (3) tries to stop him on Aug. 31 at the Rose Bowl.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

But how many of the new players will make more than a cameo appearance as Bruins? Iamaleava said in July that he hoped to head to the NFL after this season and as many as 33 players will have exhausted their eligibility by season’s end, possibly leading to another large group of transfers.

Foster said he didn’t want to dip so heavily into the transfer portal in future seasons, which would require extensive player retention and success in high school recruiting.

“If you can get guys and develop them, then they understand your culture, you know?” Foster said. “But when you’re getting new guys and you don’t have them for as long as you would like, they’re still learning the culture, you know?”

Longtime fan and UCLA graduate Travis Fuller said he felt especially close to the team growing up watching stars such as Cade McNown, Marcedes Lewis and Drew Olson because they spent multiple years in blue and gold, developing into widely known personalities.

Now, a high turnover rate is compounded by a lack of success for a program that hasn’t won much since coach Jim Mora guided the Bruins to a 10-3 season in 2014 while setting attendance records at the Rose Bowl.

Contrast that with what could be a record-low crowd Friday night when UCLA faces New Mexico (1-1) at the Rose Bowl given the confluence of weekday traffic, an opponent from the Mountain West Conference and a winless, largely anonymous batch of Bruins.

Lifelong fan Scott Detki, who acknowledged feeling more detached from the Bruins than usual, said he would be driven to learn about a successful team.

“I would be more attached if the team was actually winning,” Detki said, “because that would inspire me to be like, ‘Oh, who’s this guy? Where did he come from?’ It almost leads to more questions on what their story was.”

Then again, maybe there’s an upside to all of this unfamiliarity. As the Bruins fell behind by 23 points against UNLV last weekend, Morales found some comfort in knowing so little about his favorite team.

“It maybe made it a little easier to watch because I couldn’t get mad at any of the players,” Morales said with a laugh. “I don’t know who’s who, so I don’t know who I’m upset with.”

DeShaun Foster is a beloved Bruin, so the doubts of his being in over his head as the UCLA football coach are merely whispered. Attending a recent panel discussion, I heard Times columnist Bill Plaschke refer to Coach Foster as “a placeholder.” Saturday’s game against Utah only solidified both perceptions. In today’s college football landscape there are plenty of teams who use the transfer portal to be competitive while building toward something better. One game in, UCLA appears to be failing miserably to do so. As a 42-year season-ticket holder and alumnus, the football program, its fans, and the university deserve so much more.

Eric Forseth
Murrieta

All we heard from UCLA preseason was Nico, Nico, Nico [Iamaleava]. After watching his performance against unranked Utah, he has to be the most overrated transfer in the country. Add in the fact that the defense was absolutely pathetic, it’s another losing season. Rose Bowl you better order more tarps.

Joe Novak
La Crescenta

As I walked out of the UCLA-Utah football game in disgust in the fourth quarter after watching an uninspired and incompetent defense and a team that looked, frankly, soft, I had to smile as the PA system in the Rose Bowl appropriately blasted the song “Build Me Up Buttercup.” Uninspired and untalented. Basically, buttercups.

Alan Abajian
Alta Loma

Will somebody please explain to the Bruin defense that it is called TACKLE football??

Steve Cizmar
Huntington Beach

After UCLA’s humiliating, devastating and humbling 43-10 loss to Utah in the season opener, coach DeShaun Foster said, “We were close.”

Close to what, Division II?

Jack Wolf
Westwood

There were some breakdowns before UCLA broke training camp.

Don’t worry, these were the poignant, bring-everyone-together kind.

As part of coach DeShaun Foster’s efforts to connect a team featuring 55 new players and eight new assistant coaches, everyone participated in a series of brotherhood meetings over the last two weeks at the team hotel in Costa Mesa.

Coaches stood before the entire team, sharing anecdotes about their experiences in the game. Players told their stories in more intimate position-group settings run by a coach from a different position.

“A lot of tears,” Foster said Saturday before his team’s final camp session. “So I just like that the players were being vulnerable and letting their guard down because they saw the coaches do it. So, you know, I just think that really brought us together and we’re gonna see if it worked.”

One of the more stirring stories came from tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel, the former Bruins quarterback. Neuheisel talked about his anxiety after leading UCLA to a come-from-behind 20-17 road victory over Texas in 2014. He had come off the bench to replace injured starter Brett Hundley.

Foster said Neuheisel relayed how he was “kind of nervous just for another opportunity to happen and not being as successful the next time, you know? So that was huge because you would have never thought that with Jerry with how he is as a person.”

Offensive line coach Andy Kwon told players that regardless of the situation, they needed to finish what they started.

“Nobody cares if you’re tired, nobody cares if you’re hurting, nobody cares if you have an injury that’s pushable,” guard Julian Armella said. “Like, you can keep going, therefore you have to have a mentality each and every single day that you know that there’s going to be somebody that lines up across from you that wants your position, that wants to take the food off your family’s plate to be able to go and provide for theirs.

“So, I think just having that mentality of being able to finish, come out each day — whether it be recovery, whether it be in the classroom, off the classroom, on the field — all of these things build up in order to have that finish mentality.”

Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s message — stop thinking about what other people think about you and focus on yourself — resonated with veteran tight end Hudson Habermehl.

“You don’t want to let others’ input affect you,” Habermehl said, “because at the end of the day, all we have is each other.”

The collective mindset has resulted in a new motto for 2025: We over me.

Back at it

UCLA tight end Hudson Habermehl smiles after a touchdown catch against Boise State in the L.A. Bowl in December 2023.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

As soon as he went down in the spring of 2024, his anguished screams carrying across the practice field, Habermehl had one thought running through his mind.

Am I going to be able to play again?

His coach running over to check on the player who had just torn his anterior cruciate ligament, Habermehl repeatedly yelled five words that reflected his love for the game.

“I just want to play!” he said. “I just want to play!”

Some 15 months later, a rehabilitation that included plenty of doubts and a second surgery to clean up debris in his knee finished, Habermehl is on the verge of completing his comeback.

“It really made me step back and think,” Habermehl said, “how bad do I really want it?”

A lot, it turned out.

Along the way, he had more than a little help from his friends. Teammates and coaches constantly checked in on him and drove him to rehabilitation appointments at a time when he couldn’t put any weight on his leg for two months. Former UCLA linebacker Josh Woods, who persevered through his own devastating knee injury, was especially helpful in offering advice, telling Habermehl that he would learn a lot about himself during his recovery.

A symbolic change came over winter break when Habermehl trimmed his long, flowing locks, leading to a much more streamlined look. Foster had to check with another coach to ask who Habermehl was after walking past him in the weight room.

“He comes up and he’s like, ‘Huddy?’ ” Habermehl said. “And I was like, ‘What up?’ He’s like, ‘I didn’t even recognize you. I thought you were an alum.’ ”

Calling his new hairstyle “aerodynamic,” Habermehl looked incredibly sleek while making one of the highlight plays of camp when he sprinted to the corner of the end zone to make a leaping catch. He figures to be the team’s top tight end during a final college season that will also make him possibly the most educated player on the team.

Having completed a bachelor’s degree in geography and environmental studies, he’s also earned master’s degrees in legal studies and transformative coaching and leadership. This fall he’s taking extension classes in project management, though he conceded maybe he’s lost an opportunity.

“If you had told me I was going to be here this long, I would have started the doctorate right away,” Habermehl quipped. “You could call me Dr. Habermehl.”

Etc.

Safety Key Lawrence returned to individual practice drills Saturday, one week after suffering an apparent right leg injury. Foster said Lawrence would be eased back into practices. … UCLA will hold a mock game open to the public on Aug. 23 at the Rose Bowl. Foster said it was intended to help the team’s newcomers experience the logistics of a game one week before the season opener against Utah. … Foster confirmed that the team’s new grass practice field would not be ready for the resumption of on-campus practices next week, forcing it to use Drake Stadium. The team will shift to the intramural fields, which feature artificial turf, ahead of its Sept. 6 game at Nevada Las Vegas to prepare for the same playing surface inside Allegiant Stadium. … UCLA’s weight room renovations have been completed, Foster said, providing more modern equipment and better spacing.

Try as one might to keep Nico Iamaleava under wraps, the media viewing sessions at UCLA’s football training camp shorter than the lifespan of a soap bubble, several trends have emerged.

The Tennessee transfer unquestionably has a strong arm. Every pass is thrown with purpose and usually on target.

The wiry 6-foot-6, 215-pound redshirt sophomore has a quick release. When he faced heavy pressure during the only team period open to reporters Saturday afternoon, Iamaleava smartly and swiftly completed a short pass when no better options were available.

The guy can improvise. Scanning the defense for a weakness, Iamaleava scurried up the middle for a touchdown, making the right decision on what appeared to be a run-pass option play.

All of this shows exactly why his arrival might have so drastically altered the team’s trajectory.

“He keeps living up to expectations every day,” wide receiver Mikey Matthews said. “He’s a really good leader, and he just pushes us every day as an offense.”

Coach DeShaun Foster said one of the things that has impressed him about his new quarterback is his determination to win, even during competitive periods involving one-on-one battles.

“You can kind of see his juice going,” Foster said, “and, you know, jawing a little bit with some of the guys on defense that he knows.”

If things had gone differently, Matthews might have teamed with Iamaleava at Tennessee. Unlike UCLA, which struggled to identify top high school talent under coach Chip Kelly, the Volunteers offered Matthews a scholarship out of Mission Viejo High. A tight connection between Iamaleava and Matthews had formed through seven-on-seven tournaments and high school games.

“We already had, like, built that connection just beforehand,” said Matthews, a transfer from California who posted career highs with 32 catches for 272 yards and one touchdown last season. “So when I knew he was coming here, it was just like a blessing, just happy to have him here and just knowing that he’s going to give me that rock whenever, and knowing that he’s going to throw that ball. So it was cool just to have him here.”

Matthews has an Xbox in his hotel room and a new roommate in defensive back Brett Barry — “That’s my dawg now,” Matthews said — to learn about. There are so many possibilities to keep the wide receiver busy late into the night.

His top priority is inactivity. All he wants to do when his final meeting of the day ends around 9:30 p.m. is see how quickly he can get into bed before waking up for the next meeting.

“Once I’m done with meetings,” Matthews said, “I’m brushing my teeth and going right to sleep. I’m tired.”

It would be easy for fatigue to set in as the Bruins approach the final week of training camp in Costa Mesa. A schedule rife with practices, meetings and recovery — not to mention bonding events such as a beach day and karaoke — has left players sinking deeply into their hotel beds.

But there’s an upside to so much football for players who embrace every X and O. Matthews said the wide receivers were staying after every practice to catch at least 100 passes from a ball-launching machine.

“We all love football,” Matthews said, “so it’s not like we’re complaining, and while we’re doing this, while we’re doing that, it’s everyone just locked in, heads down, and we’re all just grinding.”

As the Bruins approached the final week of training camp, Foster said he wanted to know who had fully grasped the nuances of the way the team wanted to run things.

“Who really knows the playbook in and out, you know?” Foster said. “Let’s get the coaches on the side and let’s start getting into more scrimmaging and stuff like that.”

Linebacker Jalen Woods said a Saturday afternoon practice spanning nearly 2½ hours might have been the longest of camp, just part of Foster’s efforts to simulate a game-like environment with three weeks left before the season opener against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl.

“I feel like for us to be ready for a game,” Woods said, “like, we need these long practices.”

The bonding has also had its perks. Foster identified freshman defensive lineman Robert James III, who will be sidelined indefinitely by a lower-body injury, as the team’s best singer. Players have also performed other impromptu requests in an effort to bond.

“It’s beneficial that we do stuff like skits, and stuff like that, like doing funny stuff here and there to show everybody’s personality on the team,” Woods said. “Just a side that we don’t see, like on the football field. So, it’s basically like getting to know your teammates, and I feel like it’s going to pay dividends in the long run, trying to make a push for a championship.”

Etc.

Safety Key Lawrence suffered an apparent right leg injury early in the practice session and had to be helped off the field and into the trainers’ area. … Foster said offensive linemen Courtland Ford and Reuben Unije, who were limited in practices earlier in the week, were managing “a little bit of wear and tear.” Offensive lineman Yutaka Mahe, recovering from a lower-body injury, is on schedule to return soon, Foster said. … As of Friday, UCLA’s new practice fields on campus remained a big pile of dirt. Foster said the team had plenty of options, including Drake Stadium and the intramural fields, if the new practice fields were not completed by the time players returned to campus next weekend. … Wyatt Mosier, a redshirt sophomore linebacker, has been awarded Nick Pasquale’s No. 36 as a tribute to Mosier’s ability to embody the spirit of the late wide receiver. Foster said he wanted “somebody that was gonna come out here and leave everything on the field, and that’s the way that Wyatt practices.” … As a thank-you gesture from UCLA in response to recent wildfires, first responders can get $4.73 tickets for the season opener.

It was 68 degrees and overcast, a cool coastal breeze wafting across the practice fields, when UCLA commenced its first off-campus football training camp in nearly a decade.

San Bernardino, this was not.

With 55 newcomers dotting a roster of 105, not to mention eight new assistant coaches, the Bruins’ camp that started in Costa Mesa on Wednesday morning was more about togetherness than toughness in the triple-digit temperatures of the Inland Empire.

Every offensive player was matched with a roommate from the defense or special teams. A series of bonding exercises was planned inside and outside the nearby team hotel. Everything the Bruins do over the next 2 ½ weeks will be of the get-to-know-you variety.

UCLA linebacker JonJon Vaughns lines up with his hands on his hips and looks across the field during the first day of the Bruins’ preseason camp in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.

(Nate Donlevy / UCLA Athletics)

“I have a lot of tough guys, but it’s more of the connection,” coach DeShaun Foster said. “There’s a lot of new coaches and players, so I just wanted to find a way to make us be able to connect a little bit more, you know? To be able to eat three meals with each other and just get close.”

Foster said the football facilities at Cal State San Bernardino that the Bruins had last used in 2016 weren’t available, forcing the move to his native Orange County.

After going through the initial two-hour practice, temperatures topping out at 75 degrees, the consensus was that the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex felt more like a day at the beach than one inside a sauna.

“In the beginning, it was a little humid,” linebacker Isaiah Chisom said, “but the sun came out, it was beautiful out here.”

The facilities included three grass fields, a makeshift locker room under one tent and a makeshift weight room under another. Trainers set up near the field, unfurling folding tables next to carts of supplies. Fences lining the field were adorned with signage reflecting the Bruins mantras — “Discipline, Respect and Enthusiasm” and “Do More.”

There was the usual training-camp cadence. Whistles blew and on cue, players wrapped up foam pads and dragged them to the ground. After another whistle signaled the start of stretching, a roar rang out. Players dropped to their knees to commence a series of body bends, twisting their arms and shoulders one way and then the other.

After a series of leg stretches, new defensive line coach Jethro Franklin offered an opening salvo to a group of nearby players.

“Bruin football,” Franklin said, “should not be for the timid or the weak.”

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava warms up during the first day of the Bruins’ preseason camp in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.

(Nate Donlevy / UCLA Athletics)

During the 25-minute media viewing period, new quarterback Nico Iamaleava made a couple of handoffs to running backs, including one to Anthony Woods for a short touchdown, and threw one pass into the end zone that fell incomplete.

“He slings it,” tight end Jack Pedersen said of Iamaleava’s throwing style. “It’s a nice, firm spiral, man, and the guy doesn’t miss. Literally, can’t say enough great things.”

Before the training session, Foster said he was confident Iamaleava had sufficiently mastered the offense after enrolling in June.

“He’s pretty much grasped the playbook already,” Foster said of the transfer from Tennessee. “We haven’t had to hold back on anything. And I know at least he has these first two installs down pretty well. So just looking forward to getting out there and just watching him.”

The practice was staged in relative secrecy. Other than a handful of donors and a few city officials from Costa Mesa, fans were not allowed to attend like they had been in San Bernardino, where they sometimes lined multiple practice fields. The six reporters on hand Wednesday were barred from taking photos or videos of even the warmup periods.

Foster said training camp was about preparation, not publicity.

“We’re here to work,” he said. “We’ve got 16 days to come out and really be able to put a good product out there on the field.”

This is a business trip complete with bed checks and a curfew. Chisom is rooming with running back Anthony Frias II and has a connecting door attached to the room of linebacker Ben Perry and running back Troy Leigber, providing ample opportunities to learn about new teammates.

“I think it makes us build brotherhood,” Chisom said. “You’re staying with some people that you may have never talked to before … it kind of forces us to be close.”

The schedule called for an off day Thursday to accommodate players’ final exam schedules, one of four breaks interspersed among the 14 practices before the team breaks camp on Aug. 16. The Bruins hope that by the time they return to campus, the installation of a new 100-yard grass practice field alongside two smaller artificial turf fields will be complete.

If not, they’ll have new friends to commiserate with as they shift practices elsewhere on campus.

“This is a great opportunity to spend 2 1/2 weeks with a guy you don’t really know, right?” said Pedersen, who is rooming with defensive back Croix Stewart. “Being able to branch out, I think it’s really cool that they do this, and this is now getting an opportunity to meet other guys on the team and branch out and make those lifelong connections.”

Etc.

Although a judge denied wide receiver Kaedin Robinson’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have granted him immediate eligibility, Foster said his confidence level remained in the “90s percent” that Robinson could play for the Bruins this season. Robinson, a transfer from Appalachian State, has a preliminary injunction hearing set for Aug. 18 that will decide whether he’ll be cleared to play. … Freshman defensive lineman Robert James III maneuvered the area on a scooter, his lower right leg encased in a protective boot. … Luke Duncan took the snaps as the top backup quarterback. … Foster said linebacker Weston Port had commenced a Mormon mission and was expected to return by the spring of 2027.

DeShaun Foster was hired on a hunch.

What other way was there to evaluate someone who had no experience for the role he was being brought in to fill?

The hope was that the longtime position coach could quickly grow on the job as UCLA’s football boss while leveraging his unrivaled passion for restoring his alma mater to the glory it had last enjoyed during Foster’s playing days.

Nearly a year and a half later, there are an increasing number of signs indicating that Foster’s hire might have been a smart gamble.

After the Bruins won four of their last six games to end 2024 with a 5-7 record, Foster didn’t simply point to that late-season success as a reason to stay on the same path. Instead, he quickly pivoted to revamp a coaching staff that had been hired on the fly and generated one of college football’s most disappointing offenses.

Among the newcomers were several dogged recruiters who immediately revived the team’s ability to land the sort of elite high school recruits who had usually looked elsewhere under the Chip Kelly regime. UCLA’s 2026 recruiting class, which includes a quartet of four-star players and is currently ranked No. 21 in the country by 247Sports.com, could be the Bruins’ best since Jim Mora challenged the likes of Michigan and Ohio State for the nation’s top prospects.

Another encouraging development revealed itself Thursday inside a Mandalay Bay convention center in Las Vegas. Foster chased away the ghosts of his 2024 Big Ten media days bumble by delivering a 6 1/2-minute opening monologue that presented a coherent message amid a touch of self-deprecating humor, the coach referring to his infamous “We’re in L.A.” line from a year ago as “the most obvious geography lesson in Big Ten history.”

“You’re gonna see growth in my team this year, and you saw growth with me with this press conference,” Foster told a small group of Los Angeles-based reporters afterward. “But, you know, I was looking forward to this, and like I told you guys before, I’ve been waiting on this opportunity to come back out here.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between Foster’s latest public performance and his stumble a year ago was that he actually prepared this time, clutching several sheets of paper instead of riffing off the top of his head to regrettable results.

That’s not to say that Foster has fully silenced the doubters. As his team prepares to open training camp Wednesday in Costa Mesa, there are unknowns galore about a roster that will feature an almost entirely new defense and a transfer quarterback who has only a month to master the offense after transferring from Tennessee.

The baseline for success in Year 2 under Foster should be at least six wins and an accompanying bowl game, which would still fall well short of what the Bruins accomplished with Foster on their roster. Remember, they nearly made the first BCS title game at the end of Foster’s freshman season in 1998 (Damn you, lack of instant replay on the alleged Brad Melsby fumble).

But a winning season combined with a horde of promising prospects on the way would serve as the biggest signal yet that maybe, just maybe, Foster is the right guy for the job.

Promising debut

Nico Iamaleava walks off the field after the UCLA Spring Football Showcase on May 3.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

It would have been easy for UCLA to squirrel away its new 6-foot-6 quarterback until the season started, saving Nico Iamaleava from a fusillade of questions that felt like a Congressional hearing.

But there was the transfer from Tennessee on Thursday, facing one of the biggest scrums of reporters near the end of the final Big Ten media day.

“I wanted to bring him here,” Foster said. “Just, you know, it’s time to let you tell your story. A lot of people wrote a book for you and didn’t talk to him about it, so I just wanted him to be able to come out here … and, like, really tell his truth.”

Iamaleava told a fairly straightforward story about wanting to move closer to his Long Beach home to play in front of family for a team that he considered attending out of high school. More importantly, he never came close to getting frazzled by a series of probing, repetitive questions about the circumstances of his departure from Tennessee.

“He’s just somebody that I don’t think can really get rattled, you know?” Foster said. “Personality wise, he’s kind of quiet a little bit, but, you know, has confidence. But a quarterback, you’ve got to be able to function with stuff [happening] around you.”

Letting Iamaleava get the media scrutiny out of the way now was a smart move that will let him fully focus on something far more important — preparing for the season opener against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl.

Looking ahead

UCLA is installing a new grass practice field outside the Wasserman Center,

(Ben Bolch / Los Angeles Times)

For the first time since it slogged through the San Bernardino heat in 2016, UCLA will hold its football training camp off campus.

The team will use the Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, a previous home to the Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.

The site’s proximity to coastal breezes could prevent the Bruins from spending as much time soaking in ice baths as they did in San Bernardino, where temperatures routinely reached triple digits.

Right tackle Garrett DiGiorgio said the team’s hotel was only four minutes away from the practice fields, meaning players won’t be stuck on buses for a long commute.

The move to train off campus was made in large part because UCLA is installing a new grass practice field outside the Wasserman Center, but it could have additional benefits for a team that’s integrating dozens of transfers and high school freshmen.

A bear market?

This could be a historic year for UCLA sports.

After finishing fifth in the Learfield Directors Cup that measures broad-based success in college athletics, the Bruins could challenge for the top spot in 2025-26 based on an extraordinary combination of returning talent and gifted newcomers.

What’s perhaps most intriguing is that the football and men’s basketball teams could join their Olympic-sport counterparts in winning big upon the arrival of Iamaleava and point guard Donovan Dent.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Times, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said he was bullish on the Bruins’ chances to follow up a prosperous debut Big Ten season with even greater success.

“A lot of people put in a lot of work to put us in this position, and we’re going to keep working, you know?” Jarmond told The Times. “So I’m really, really proud and I’m really excited about what we’re doing and where we’re going.”

Opinion time

Does Terry Donahue belong on a Mt. Rushmore of UCLA football?

(Reed Saxon / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA has produced some legendary football coaches, from Terry Donahue to Red Sanders to Tommy Prothro. Its list of celebrated players is far longer, including numerous inductees into the college and pro football halls of fame.

Who are your favorites? If you had to pick four figures to place on a Mount Rushmore of UCLA football (say, along a Bel-Air hilltop overlooking campus), who would they be? Email your responses to [email protected] and we’ll post the results next week.

Remember when?

Foster has experience coming off a disappointing UCLA season with a tough opener at the Rose Bowl like his team will face late next month when Utah coach Kyle Willingham brings his team to Pasadena.

In their 2000 opener, the Bruins faced third-ranked Alabama at the Rose Bowl and it looked like things might get ugly. UCLA lost starting quarterback Cory Paus after the first drive with a sprained shoulder ligament. The Bruins fell behind when the Crimson Tide scored the first touchdown on a punt return.

But then backup quarterback Ryan McCann and Foster engineered a stunning 35-24 victory that coach Bob Toledo at the time called the second-greatest of his UCLA career behind only a double-overtime triumph against USC in 1996.

Foster tied a school record with 42 carries for what was then a career-high 187 yards and McCann completed 14 of 24 passes for 194 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown to Freddie Mitchell. You can watch that game here.

Unranked at the time, UCLA went on to win its first three games en route to a No. 6 ranking before finishing the season with a 6-6 record after a 21-20 loss to Wisconsin in the Sun Bowl.

In case you missed it

After successful Big Ten debut, UCLA has designs on something even bigger

‘It came down to me wanting to be back home’: Nico Iamaleava details move to UCLA

A year after stumbling at Big Ten media days, UCLA’s DeShaun Foster is poised and confident

Wide receiver Kaedin Robinson suing NCAA in bid to play for UCLA this season

‘It was a real blessing’: Ben Howland remains grateful long after leaving UCLA

Have something Bruin?

Thank you for reading the first UCLA Unlocked newsletter. Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

LAS VEGAS — It’s easier for everything to go according to script when you have one.

As DeShaun Foster strode across the stage inside a convention center here Thursday afternoon, the UCLA football coach clutched several pages of prepared remarks that helped him navigate a lengthy opening monologue with poise and confidence.

Poking fun at his widely mocked and memed performance from a year ago, when he delivered a short, unrehearsed address filled with awkward pauses and an uneasy smile, Foster indulged reporters in a short recap of the lowlights.

“Last year I stood up here and reminded everyone that UCLA is in L.A., which looking back might have been the most obvious geography lesson in Big Ten history,” Foster said. “But you know what? Important things are worth stating clearly. We are in L.A., and we’re proud to be in L.A. This year we’re ready to show the Big Ten what L.A. football looks like when it’s firing on all cylinders.”

The Bruins can only hope their turnaround on the field is as stunning as their coach’s transformation onstage.

A year ago, as UCLA stumbled to a 1-5 start, “We’re in L.A.” became a catchphrase freely wielded to ridicule a team that often looked as lost as its coach had while delivering his opening remarks inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Rather than run from his troubles, Foster barreled ahead like a running back who found an opening in a wall of defenders. The rookie coach found his footing with a team that won four of its last six games, narrowly missing an opportunity to play in a bowl game.

His offseason was even more impressive. Foster overhauled his staff (only two assistants from last season remain) and redoubled his recruiting efforts, leading to a 2026 high school class ranked No. 21 nationally by 247Sports.com. Landing Nico Iamaleava from the transfer portal after the quarterback’s spring of discontent at Tennessee generated immediate buzz.

“We’re just excited to have a playoff quarterback, somebody that was able to lead his team to the playoffs,” Foster said. “They might not have gotten the outcome that they wanted, but he still was able to play. He showed how tough he was in that game. Just being able to come back home and be comfortable and being in a familiar environment, I think the sky is the limit. We’re excited about this.”

While Iamaleava’s arrival isn’t expected to vault the Bruins into contention for the Big Ten title, much less the College Football Playoff — UCLA was picked to finish 15th in the 18-team conference by a media poll conducted by Cleveland.com — there is recent precedent for teams taking a big leap in their coach’s second season.

Colorado finished 9-4 last season after going 4-8 in Deion Sanders’ debut season and Arizona State went 11-3 and made the CFP one year after going 3-9 in Kenny Dillingham’s first season. Foster said he hopes this season goes as well as his second in the NFL, when he helped the Carolina Panthers reach the Super Bowl.

Questions abound, particularly on a defense that loses every key playmaker, as the Bruins prepare to open training camp in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. The team will practice off campus for the first time since training in San Bernardino in 2016 because of the installation of a grass field outside the Wasserman Football Center.

Some changes around the program feel more than cosmetic. UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said that Foster’s willingness to make wholesale changes on his coaching staff after just one season and the associated recruiting surge are signs that this is a program on the rise.

“He’s just brought a vibe back, a buzz and energy about UCLA football that we haven’t had since I’ve been here, quite honestly,” Jarmond said. “And that’s what you want to see.”

A few hours before Foster took a few sips of water and dabbed his head with a handkerchief before ascending stairs to the podium inside the Mandalay Bay, his boss predicted that he would have a better showing than he did last year.

“I think he’s just more comfortable,” Jarmond said. “You know, everybody is new at something and you don’t nail the landing every first time. And so, thankfully, you’re not graded on what you say; you’re graded on how you perform and how you lead, and that’s what he’s done exceptionally well. I mean, the last half of the season, we finished 4-2 — the momentum he had going into the second half of the year and then the recruiting, that’s what matters, what you’re doing with the program.

“So I think he’s excited about today. I think he’s going to feel more comfortable because he’s done it before. And that’s just part of the deal. But he’s going to be himself and he’s going to be great.”

Foster said his verbal stumbles from a year ago taught him a valuable lesson.

“Authenticity resonates more deeply than perfection,” he said. “Our players saw me being human, and it brought us closer together. We’ve been joking about it for about a year now. The players know that that same genuine approach is how we coach, recruit and build this program.”

Entering his second season, Foster said he expected significant improvement not just from his team but also from himself.

“Growth is part of the process, and we’re all committed to being better than we were last season,” Foster said. “I know there are questions about our progress, expectations and how well we’re performing in this conference. That’s totally fair. We’re here to earn respect, not demand it. However, I can tell you this: My team is ready. They’re confident. They’re prepared, and they’re hungry to show up and show out and redefine what UCLA football can be. So, yes, we’re still in L.A. We’re proud to be Bruins, and we’re ready to make it happen starting now.”

And with that, Foster announced that he was happy to take any questions, having answered a big one about himself.

June 24 (UPI) — The international architecture firm Foster + Partners was announced as the winner of a multi-million-dollar competition to design a national memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Norman Foster‘s firm beat out five other finalists with its pitch for a new cast-glass bridge inspired by Elizabeth’s wedding tiara as part of a commemorative garden in St. James’ Park, with spaces for visitors for quiet reflection.

The proposals also feature a statue of Elizabeth on horseback and a cast of her and her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who died in 2021, at a new Prince Philip Gate.

“We showed them together and, in a way, there was this inseparable quality which we sought to convey,” Foster said.

“Our design reflects Her Majesty’s love of history and tradition, while introducing a gentle, unifying intervention that respects the park’s nature and legacy.”

Foster added that the concept also recalled the informality the queen was known for in her interactions with people.

He stressed that the project would have minimal impact on the nature and biodiversity of the park and that the work would be conducted in phases, allowing the public to continue enjoying the existing amenities.

The new memorial will be built close to the statues of Elizabeth’s mother and father, the Queen Mother and King George VI, and not far from the statue of Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace.

“Foster + Partners’ ambitious and thoughtful masterplan will allow us and future generations to appreciate Queen Elizabeth’s life of service as she balanced continuity and change with strong values, common sense and optimism throughout her long reign,” said Lord Robin Janvrin, head of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee Chair.

The project is expected to open to the public in April in what would have been Elizabeth’s hundredth year. She died in September 2022 at the age of 96.

Famous and iconic designs of Norman Foster around the world include the Reichstag building in Berlin, “The Gherkin” building in the City of London, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building on Hong Kong Island and the Hearst Building on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.