DeShaun Foster addresses UCLA assistant Corey Miller taunting USC

Tensions boiled over in UCLA and USC‘s Week 13 showdown on Saturday. As the two teams attempted to enter the same tunnel during the halftime break, they had to be held back and exchanged heated words.

Players weren’t the only ones involved in the ugly scene. UCLA head performance coach Corey Miller participated in the exchange and was one of three Bruins to receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for their actions.

After the game, UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster defended Miller, referring to him as a peacemaker.

“He was kind of just separating people and keeping our guys from going onto their side,” Foster said. “I think that they just kind of saw a big guy and was threatened by what he was doing, but he was just separating — keeping our guys from getting any closer to them.

Some extracurriculars as USC and UCLA go to halftime at the Rose Bowl. Looked like several USC guys jawing at various Bruins, most of UCLA’s roster came over, USC staffers hold their guys back and divert to locker room.

It’s USC 9, UCLA 3 at half pic.twitter.com/8HR1cK0Tqu

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) November 24, 2024

“You’re just disappointed if anybody gets a call, especially people that understand the discipline because he’s somebody that’s teaching that to our players downstairs [in the weight room], so it was very unfortunate that that happened.”

However, after video surfaced of Miller taunting USC’s players and flipping them off, Foster walked back his original statement.

“That’s very unfortunate that that’s what happened in the game,” Foster said on Wednesday. “I wish I would have known that, but we talked about it, sat down and was able to figure that out internally and he felt pretty bad about that.

“He expressed his sentiments to the team, to the coaches and everybody and you’ve got to lead by example out here. You can’t be completely–you just can’t be out of control in any situation, especially when you’re in a [position] of power, so it was an unfortunate situation and he feels awful about what happened and getting a penalty and he made sure he made it right with the team.”

UCLA named Miller its head performance coach in July after Foster took the reins of the program. The hire marked a return to the Bruins for Miller, who served as the team’s director of speed and movement from February 2022 to June 2023 before moving to the NFL.

He served the past year as assistant director of strength and conditioning for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. While Foster was happy with Miller’s disappointment in his own actions, he stated there will be other disciplinary measures.