Greg McElroy grades DeShaun Foster's first year at UCLA after he 'weathered the storm'

Considering where they were when he took over, Greg McElroy graded the job done by UCLA’s DeShaun Foster well.

McElroy gave a B to Foster for the work he did in his debut this fall with the Bruins during ‘Always College Football‘ last week. That’s taking into account where they started when he was hired to where they were at least by season’s end.

“All in all, given what preseason expectations were and what the results were, I’m going to give year one for DeShaun Foster a B,” said McElroy. “The season as a whole? Pretty good in year number one in the Big Ten.”

Before Foster was hired, UCLA had just won eight more games but lost three of their final four in what was their final year under Chip Kelly. Kelly then left the job to be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

With that, Foster took over at his alma mater at a time where they could’ve been considered lost with Kelly’s departure and their move into the Big Ten. Still, he took the offseason well in ways to better position them for his first season there and their first year in the league.

“There was a lot of, kind of, speculation when DeShaun Foster got the job. Well, Chip Kelly abruptly decides to leave and takes not a lateral move but what many believe to be a downward move from head coach in the Big Ten to coordinator in the Big Ten. It was a bit of a surprise and I think a bit of shock,” said McElroy. “When Chip Kelly decided to leave, I think people looked and said, ‘Oh my goodness…Like, we need to find somebody that is going to bring us a little enthusiasm, a little excitement – a guy that we can rally behind, a guy that will lead us through the doldrums’. That was DeShaun Foster. So there was some speculation but it was really less about DeShaun Foster and more about the future of UCLA’s program when he got the job.

“Well, I think DeShaun Foster did a pretty adequate job, by the way, steadying the ship. Made a couple of splashy coordinator hires…I think they kind of weathered the storm and they came out of it on the other side. Look, they lost 14 in the portal. They gained 14 in the portal. I do think, in some ways, they got a little deeper in some areas in the portal…I feel like it was decent. They lost a couple good players but nothing that was irreplaceable, if you will.”

From there, UCLA went on to go 5-7 under Foster. It wasn’t a great year as it was their first one under eight wins in four seasons. However, it also was in a way as they were able to turn what was a start at 1-5 into a finish that was at 4-2, including three straight wins over decent opponents in conference play.

“Year one? 5-7. If you want me to be completely honest, that’s better than I thought. I thought this team was going to be like a three-win team at best. Then they started 1-5 – really, really difficult opening stretch and, at that point, you’re starting to think, ‘Yeah, this is not going to go well. This is not good,'” said McElroy. “Then Foster continued to get the guys to buy in, guys continued to stay engaged, continued to work and continue to try to get better. They all of a sudden start reeling off a couple wins. They beat Rutgers, they beat Nebraska, they beat Iowa. Two of those wins were on the road. And then, other than the Big en opener against Indiana, they were somewhat competitive even in losing efforts.”

Foster still has much to do to improve his former and now current program going into his second season and beyond. As for his first, though, McElroy thought he did about as well as he could with all things considered.

“When you take into account the level of negativity that was surrounding UCLA when DeShaun Foster took over, to be in the mix and to fight the way they fought? You have to feel pretty good about where they could be going here in the future,” said McElroy.