DeShaun Foster on his fourth down decisions: 'I'm telling everybody what to do'

There are times when a decision may be a collaborative effort for a coaching staff. However, first-year UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster wants to make it clear that he’s the one making decisions when it comes to fourth downs.

As Foster explained to media members following practice ahead of Week 2, all the decisions the team makes come from him and not from another coach or assistant.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“Every decision that we did was me,” DeShaun Foster said. “It wasn’t — I’m telling everybody what to do. There’s no decisions being made by any other coaches. So, anything that’s happening is coming directly from me.”

UCLA is coming off a win against Hawaii in Week 1. It was a tight game and the Bruins found themselves getting shutout at the half with the offense struggling. UCLA also didn’t choose to go for it on fourth down at all during the game, compared to three attempts by Hawaii.

Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW

There are several different philosophies when it comes to the approach on fourth downs. Some use analytics to make those decisions while others use more of a gut feeling. Some are more aggressive and others are more conservative with it. In a game where UCLA had a couple of situations where it seemed like UCLA might go for it, DeShaun Foster chose not to do so.

“It depends on the situation,” Foster said. “With the momentum going, I was probably gonna go for it. Then, they ended up calling a timeout, so we kicked a field goal.”

Another situation came when UCLA had a 4th and 5 from the Hawaii 34-yard line. Again, as he explained, Foster didn’t think it was the right situation to go for it.

“I just didn’t like the situation at the time,” Foster said.

UCLA was able to outscore Hawaii 16-3 in the second half of their Week 1 game, which was enough to come from behind and win. Still, it left the Bruins with plenty to work on moving forward this season, particularly as the running game was only able to gain 71 yards on the ground and the offense as a whole only converted four of 13 third downs on the game.

Next, DeShaun Foster will have a bye week to prepare for his first home game and his first Big Ten game against the Indiana Hoosiers.