LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA fired second-year football coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday after the school’s first 0-3 start since 2019.
Athletic director Martin Jarmond announced the move two days after , their second straight loss to a Mountain West Conference opponent.
“It’s not a decision I made lightly, but it was important to take decisive action,” Jarmond said on a Zoom call with media. “This serves as a message to our fans that the results we’ve seen so far are simply not acceptable.”
Tim Skipper will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season, which includes games against three highly ranked Big Ten Conference opponents. Skipper had been special assistant to Foster, and he served as Fresno State’s interim coach last year.
Foster was 5-10 since taking over the program from Chip Kelly in February 2024, after national signing day and relatively late in the recruiting process.
“I regret putting DeShaun in that position as we were going into the Big Ten,” Jarmond said. “Getting a start so late really disadvantaged the start of his coaching career.”
Last year, the Bruins finished 5-7 after a 1-5 start in the school’s first season in the Big Ten. Foster had been the program’s running backs coach from 2017-23 and added the title of associate head coach in 2023 before being promoted to the top job by Jarmond. Foster spent one season on the staff at Texas Tech.
The Bruins were beaten by in their opener and by a week ago. They trailed at halftime in all three losses, two of them coming at the Rose Bowl, where attendance was sparse and tarps are used to cover wide swaths of seating.
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Foster was asked Friday if he was still the person for the job, and he replied: “Most definitely. Because I can get these boys to play.”
However, even the arrival of via the transfer portal couldn’t save Foster. The sophomore left Tennessee after leading the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff last season and didn’t participate in spring camp.
Iamaleava defended Foster after Friday’s loss, saying: “We’re not executing as players. It all falls back on the players.”
Iamaleava is among 55 new players in Westwood this season, along with eight new assistants. Over half the defensive line is made up of transfers.
Foster hired Tino Sunseri from Indiana as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but the Bruins’ offense ranks 127th nationally (14.3 points per game) and got outscored 30-0 in the first quarter of each game this season. The Bruins repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties in the losses, too.
Foster was a star running back for the Bruins during his college career, including a four-touchdown performance against rival USC in 1998, before playing seven seasons in the NFL.
“Serving as the head coach at UCLA, my beloved alma mater, has been the honor of a lifetime,” Foster said in a statement. “While I am deeply disappointed that we were unable to achieve the success that our players, fans, and university deserve, I am grateful for the opportunity to have led this program.”
The school said the terms of Foster’s contract will be honored by UCLA Athletics, exclusively using department-generated funds.
Kelly’s teams had 0-3 starts in 2018 and 2019, but the losses included Oklahoma and Cincinnati, schools with better football reputations than UNLV and New Mexico.
Jarmond said the upcoming off week played a part in the timing of Foster’s ouster, giving the team time to regroup with its next game not until Sept. 27 at Northwestern.
The Bruins host No. 2 Penn State on Oct. 4, visit No. 19 Indiana on Oct. 25 and play at No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 15.
Foster’s firing opens an immediate 30-day window in which players can enter the transfer portal. Jarmond said he met with the entire team and has not heard from anyone who is considering leaving.
“The team is very focused on really turning this around,” he said. “This is a clean slate. We’re 0-0 in the Big Ten and this is about getting better. They’re ultimately going to write this season.”
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