DeShaun Foster on Gary Smith, Deshun Murrell injury recovery: 'That's gonna be up in the air'

UCLA carried a couple of long-term injuries into fall camps with them. Defensive lineman Gary Smith and running back Deshun Murrell have not been practicing with the Bruins ahead of the 2024 season. And after the latest update from head coach DeShaun Foster, the duo may continue to be on the sideline.

Foster revealed Murrell recently underwent another surgery on his knee. Nothing specific was given about Smith but the best Foster could describe their progress was “TBA.”

“That’s going to be up in the air,” Foster said. “Deshun just actually had another surgery to take out some scar tissue. But other than that, he’s been progressing really well. Same thing with Gary… TBA.”

Murrell has not caught a break since entering college football, having back-to-back ACL tears. Just one game is on his UCLA resume, going for 34 yards on six carries against Alabama State in 2022. The Bruins were able to sign Murrell out of JUCO but have yet to see his talents truly help the program.

As for Smith, he is one of the more experienced players on the UCLA roster, entering his fifth season of college football. Smith has been in Los Angeles for three of those, previously playing for the Duke Blue Devils. A total of 39 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and 3.0 sacks have been recorded by Smith since arriving.

Last season’s game against Arizona State on Nov. 11 was where Smith suffered his injury, going down with a significant leg issue.

Deshaun Foster reveals Corey Miller is back on UCLA staff

Corey Miller is the new UCLA strength and conditioning coach after spending a year away from the program, head coach DeShaun Foster revealed on Thursday.

Miller previously served as UCLA’s director of speed and movement from 2022-2023 before moving on to serve as the assistant director of strength and conditioning for the Carolina Panthers in the NFL.

“We had a transition in strength coaches,” Foster said after practice on Thursday. “I brought Corey Miller back. [Keith Belton] went to the Dallas Mavericks and I brought Corey from the Carolina Panthers. He said that (the players) had an awesome summer just transitioning into his style from KB’s.”

During his time with the Panthers, Miller was in charge of setting up workout plans for the offensive and defensive line units. He briefly worked with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 through the league’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report