Chip Kelly explains promotion of DeShaun Foster

DeShaun Foster was a nominee for the Broyles Award in 2022 for his efforts as UCLA‘s running back coach. Bruins head coach Chip Kelly recognized his contributions with a hefty promotion earlier this offseason, naming him the team’s associate head coach.

“I think the world of DeShaun. I think he’s an outstanding football coach, I think he’s a better person,” Kelly said. “There is nobody that emulates what this school is about more than a former player here who was inducted into the [UCLA] Hall of Fame this past year. He had the opportunity to play in the NFL, but he wanted to give back and that’s what he has constantly done [as a coach].

“He’s about service, he’s about serving others and helping others. … He does a tremendous job and deserves everything he has gotten here.”

To Kelly’s point, Foster is one of the most accomplished UCLA running backs in school history. Playing for the Bruins in the late 90s through the turn of the century, Foster was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection in 2000 and 2001 after eclipsing 1,000-yard seasons back-to-back before moving on to the NFL.

Foster has been on the Bruins’ coaching staff since 2012 (minus a one-year stint at Texas Tech in 2016), but has been serving as UCLA’s running backs coach since 2017.

Foster’s success on the sidelines for UCLA began with former Bruins RB Joshua Kelley‘s back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2018 and 2019. Under Foster’s guide in 2020, the Bruins averaged 200 rushing yards on the ground for the first time in 30 seasons and during the following year, ran for at least 200 yards in all eight of their victories that season.

This past year, the Bruins led the Pac-12 and ranked sixth in the nation in rushing offense (237.2) and rushed for 300 yards on three seperate occasions, something that hasn’t been done by a UCLA team since 1976. Zach Charbonnet became the ninth Bruins in program history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2021 and 2022, joining Foster and Kelley on the exclusive list.

“You look at the work he’s done with the running backs here — since I’ve been here, you can argue that has been our strongest position over the past five years consistently with a bunch of different guys,” Kelly said.

With Foster standing by Kelly’s side as his new right-hand man, UCLA will kick its season off on Sept. 2 at home against Coastal Carolina.