Deshaun Foster raves over having Eric Bieniemy at UCLA: 'It's huge'

The Big Ten Football Media Days are taking place in the home that Peyton Manning built, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and On3’s Andy Staples is on-site, taking in all that the event has to offer.

Staples sat down with first-year UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster for a lengthy conversation, where the Bruins headman answered a handful of questions about his associate head coach and offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy. The first question was about the importance of having Bieniemy on his staff.

“It’s huge. It’s just something that I can lean on in all different aspects of coaching,” said Foster.

Bieniemy joined Foster at UCLA after spending last season leading the Washington Commanders offense. Prior to that, the longtime NFL offensive coordinator previously helped Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the Kansas City Chiefs win two of their three Super Bowls.

Speaking of Mahomes, Staples also questioned Foster on whether or not Bruins’ recruits riddle Bieniemy with questions about the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champion quarterback or other elite individuals who coach at the next level.

“There’s probably a million,” said Foster. “He’s coached at a high level [and] he’s coaching Hall of Famers. So, you know they’re gonna have questions.”

Leaving that topic on a high note, Foster shared a humorous story about familiarizing the team with their new offensive coordinator. According to the Bruins head coach, he wasn’t certain if there were any who knew that Bieniemy, a former AP national champion, was a unanimous All-American and a Colorado athletic Hall of Famer at running back.

“What’s funny is that, with the current team, I had one of our guys put his highlights on so they could see. Because I didn’t think our current players even knew,” said Foster to close.

Both Foster and Bieniemy are former collegiate running backs teaming up to continue the resurrection of the UCLA football program. The Bruins were trending in the right direction under former head coach Chip Kelly, finishing last season with an 8-5 record. However, Kelly opted to vacate his head coaching position to become the offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now, the first-time head coach and veteran offensive coordinator will set out to finish the Bruins climb to the top of the college football mountain as new members of the Big Ten conference.

Bieniemy is known for his no-nonsense approach to coaching and his sharp offensive mind. Both of those qualities will likely pay dividends in Foster and the Bruins’ success both on and off the field in 2024.