LOS ANGELES -- The UCLA Bruins are about to begin two new eras of football. One from the coaching staff, the other, playing in a new conference for the first time in 96 years.
The Bruins are one of four new teams from the Pac-12 to join the Big 10 conference and will also be moving on from Chip Kelly and have brought in former running back and running backs coach Deshaun Foster to lead the team for the 2024-25 season.
Foster makes debut
Foster has almost seen it all with the Bruins. A former player from 1998-2001 serving on two different coaching staffs with Jim Mora Jr. and Kelly to now taking the reigns as a first-time head coach.
Foster has worked in several roles with UCLA over the last 12 years including working as a volunteer assistant in 2012 and as a running back coach from 2017-2023.
Before his coaching career, he was a star running back for the Bruins and had two seasons where he ran over 900 yards. In his senior season, he was sensational, rushing for 1109 yards with 12 rushing touchdowns and one receiving.
While Foster has spent the last six months building his own culture, he has kept some familiar names in the coaching staff while bringing in some veteran coaches. He has been praised by members of the staff for creating a group that is mixed with you and experience along the coaching tree.
Foster has also been busy building up the Bruins roster this season, focusing primarily on recruitment instead of the transfer portal, which has been a big difference between him and Kelly.
Coming into this season the Bruins recruitment class ranked 90th in the nation. Their 2025 class is already ranking 36th including three four-star recruits.
In the 2023 recruiting class, the Bruins had just one five-star recruit in former quarterback Dante Moore who ended up transferring to Oregon over the offseason. The rest of Kelly's recruiting class included a handful of three-star recruits.
With Foster set to make his career debut as coach, the one thing that has been a major takeaway from summer camp is the energy that the Bruins have played with. Foster has done a great job of keeping his players locked in and believing they can win.
Offense on spot
Bienemy was once considered a top coaching candidate for many NFL teams just a few years ago but never had his name called. After spending the last season as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, Bienemy will return to UCLA as a coach for the first time since 2005.
Throughout his coaching career, Bienemy has had plenty of success, including multiple deep playoff runs and two Super Bowl victories with the Kansas City Cheifs.
Like Foster, this isn't the first time Bienemy has coached for the Bruins as he was a running backs coach with them from 2003-2005. While also specializing as a recruiting coordinator in his last season with the team.
Bienemy will introduce a new offense this season as UCLA will ditch a fast-paced spread offense and will be rolling with a pro-style under-center offense.
Last year, The Bruins offense ranked 68th in scoring among all schools in college football. They averaged just 26.5 points per game.
After seeing three different quarterbacks start under center last season, senior quarterback Ethan Garbers is set to take over as the starter this season.
Garbers was once a four-star recruit coming out of Corona Del Mar High School. He started in six games for the Bruins last year, including their 35-22 win over Boise State in the LA Bowl last Dec.
Last season he threw for 1136 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Throughout camp, he has looked just as good as he did in the six games he started for the Bruins.
Some weapons he will have lineup outside include wide receivers Rico Flores Jr., J. Michael Sturdivant, Logan Loya, and tight end Moliki Matavao. In the backfield, the Bruins will be led by Michigan State transfer Jalen Berger who ran for 683 yards in 2022.
Defense revamped, too
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bruins will have a new defensive coordinator as D'Anton Lynn has left to coach defense at USC. Last season UCLA's defense ranked nationally in the top 10.
Ikaika Malloe will be taking over play-calling duty on defense. Malloe has over 20 years of experience coaching including three years as a defensive coordinator. He is entering his second season with the Bruins after coaching the defensive line last season.
One of the biggest questions that surrounds the Bruins this year is can the defense be as good as last year as both Laiatu Latu and Darius Muasau were drafted into the NFL. The Bruins are also losing three members of their secondary from last season including Kamari Ramsey and John Humphrey who followed Lynn to USC. Former safety William Nimmo is also gone after he transferred to San Diego State.
Right now, the Bruins secondary is filled with new names as only Devin Kirkwood is a starter who remains from last season. Playing alongside Kirkwood this year will be joined by first-year starter Clint Stephens who was with the team last year as a freshman. Alongside them will be Oregon transfer Bryan Addison and California transfer Kaylin Moore.
One notable move Foster has made with the secondary this season is removing the defensive backs coach role and assigning coaches at safety and corner. Brian Norwood will now specialize in coaching the safeties and Kodi Whitfield will focus on the cornerbacks.
At linebacker, Oluwafemi Oladejo and Kain Medrano have seen a lot of time with the first team. Linebacker Ale Kaho will likely see some time at linebacker but has also gone back to his original position as an edge rusher.
On the defensive line, the Bruins will likely open up with Jacob Busic on the left, Keanu Williams and Jay Toia in the middle, and redshirt junior Devin Aupiu on the right side.