How you do one thing is how you do everything.
UCLA running backs coach A.J. Steward preaches it and it is the mantra adopted by the Bruins’ prolific running backs.
UCLA’s three-headed backfield, composed of fifth-year players Wayne Knight and Anthony Woods and senior Jaivian Thomas, is hailed for its undeniable impact on the ground, ranking first nationally in rushing touchdowns, third in yards per carry and fifth in yards per game this season.
Steward, who works in tandem with offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Smith, said it’s what his tailbacks do without the ball and the group’s commitment to each other that separates the group from the rest of the pack.
“The way we play without the ball in our hands is no different. It should be no different than what we do when we have the ball in our hands in terms of trying to make a play for our offense,” Steward said. “You cut the film on any of these guys, you’ll see they’re downfield making blocks. They’re there at the end of the play in case somebody puts the ball down [on] the ground and that’s because they hear it every day how you do anything’s how you do everything.”
Apart from the group’s buy-in to doing the little things, its commitment to unselfish football keeps one of the most dynamic running games in the country from fracturing.
All three of the Bruins starting running backs could have been the sole starter at another program, with Woods rushing for 1,131 yards and 16 scores at Idaho in 2023, Thomas running for 626 yards and seven touchdowns at California in 2024 and Knight earning AP All-America honors last season at James Madison for his record-breaking 2,039 all-purpose yards.
But, as Steward preaches, the star of the running unit is the running back unit. And that belief is shared by the players, keeping them tightly knit and unbothered by who gets the most touches or scores.
“It goes into their buy-in as a program, as a group, because you’re talking about three dynamic running backs that could have 40 carries, 50 carries, 30 carries, 20, whatever it is,” said offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy. “But the fact that they’re buying into each other, that you could see them on the sideline, genuinely caring about other people’s success, and when you have a group like that, it bleeds to the team.”
The ability to utilize three differently skilled but equally high-impact running backs has dramatically opened Kennedy’s playbook, allowing him to put the tailbacks out on the perimeter and act as receivers, creating headaches for opposing defenses.
But the real value comes in the dying embers of games, when everyone on both sides of the field is exhausted — except the UCLA running backs.
“The ability to when we’re in the fourth quarter, I’m looking at these three guys and none of them are banged up, none of them are gassed and we can just roll,” Steward said. “We have guys that have only played 15 snaps in a game, 20 snaps in a game, that we trust with the game on the line to be able to push the ball forward and get first downs in a four-minute situation. That’s a competitive advantage. That’s part of the method to the madness is to have guys really fresh by the time we get to the fourth quarter.”
The team-first mentality of the running back group stems from the emphasis Steward places on having authentic relationships with his players, a lesson he learned under coach Dave Bailiff, now the special assistant to the head coach at Texas State, when Steward was a graduate assistant at Rice.
After a fellow graduate assistant chewed out one of the scout team players, Bailiff brought all of the young coaches into his office and reprimanded them, highlighting that they should never say or do anything they wouldn’t do to their own son.
And Steward has carried that experience from more than a decade ago in Houston, inspiring how he leads his group in Westwood.
“I definitely see them as somebody’s sons. I struggled earlier in my career to be blunt in the moments that they needed me to be blunt, because I didn’t want to ruffle their feathers or strain our relationship momentarily,” Steward said. “But now, I’m addressing it with them because I don’t want them to get hurt from a place of love. It’s been good for them to see me with my family, so they see a lot of the consistency with how I raise my boys, with some of the lessons that I’m trying to teach them.”
That spirit allowed Steward to be one of two coaches — alongside nickels coach Gabe Lynn — to be retained after working for former coach DeShaun Foster.
Soon after he arrived, new UCLA head coach Bob Chesney asked Steward whether he wanted to remain in Westwood.
And the answer was easy.
“I told him how much I really believe in this place and how much I love the players that we have here. I knew it was only a matter of time before we could get this thing going in the direction that I’ve always envisioned it,” Steward said. “I’m blessed that he gave me an opportunity to stay, and we’re seeing the fruit of some of the work that was put in before they got here, but also the success that they brought and the culture they added.”
And Steward’s emphasis on cultivating a genuine connection to his players fit naturally with the culture Chesney vowed to instill in Westwood.
Steward’s three top running backs now praise the coach for who he is as a man and a leader.
“His faith and how he carries himself as a father and off-the-football-field stuff — I admire a lot of that,” Knight said. “He’s a very respectable man.”
On the field, Knight said Steward has made him become more of a pro, by harping on the little things and making sure that no one takes anything for granted. Thomas said Steward knew things about his game that Thomas did not know himself.
Woods echoed his teammates’ message, adding that Steward has pushed the group to its limit and held them to the highest standard because he knows the players’ potential.
“If they believe the why behind the things that you do, it opens the door for them to trust your decision making sometimes when it doesn’t necessarily benefit them,” Steward said. “That’s really what’s unlocked our ability to see these guys get closer to their ceiling. Even when I’m giving them coaching points, they understand this comes from a place of love. Love is saying great job when it’s a great job, or telling you that’s not the standard when it’s not the standard.”
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