UCLA's Big Ten Football Media Days Quotes

BIG TEN FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, Ind.)

DeShaun Foster’s Opening Press Conference
opening statement
“I’m happy to be here and glad to be a part of this great conference. Finally putting two great emblems together: UCLA and the Big Ten. We’re a school that’s won 123 championships, so this fits us being right in this conference. Football wise, we’re just excited. I’m sure you guys don’t know too much about UCLA, but our football program – we’re in LA. It’s us and USC. I’m just basically excited. That’s it.”

on his two returning running backs T.J. Harden and Keegan Jones
“(I’m) really excited about my running back room. We have T.J. Harden (and) Keegan Jones coming back. T.J. is a bigger power back going into his junior year. Played a lot as a freshman. Really came out of his shell last season. Keegan was used as a utility player last season, but he played running back all the way up to that. He’s going back to running back this season also, so I’m excited for that. Explosive kid. When he gets the ball in his hand, you can really see a difference in his speed and just how he plays the game. We’re just excited to add depth with a player that has been in the Big Ten (referring to Jalen Berger). We’re just excited to have Jalen in our program and get him up to speed once he comes into training camp.”

on how important it was to add offensive coordinate Eric Bieniemy to his first-year staff
“That was huge. Being a first-year head coach, I needed to make sure I had somebody that I didn’t have to micromanage. Having Eric Bieniemy, that was perfect for me because he’s an established offensive coordinator and the type of experience and the knowledge he has, I can lean on him and really use that.”

on the players’ response to his hire and being an African-American head coach in Los Angeles
“The players responded to me very well. I didn’t have too many guys hit the portal. I think I had three (enter the transfer portal). They’re taking on challenges and doing what you would want players to do as a first-time head coach. And just me being a Black head coach in L.A., I’m just excited, especially me being at my alma mater. You don’t really know if those things are possible or attainable as a player. I’m blessed to be in this position and I’m excited.”

on preparing for UCLA’s travel schedule
“In the NFL you travel, so it’s the same thing. The first two that you said – LSU and Hawai’i – we won’t be in school for those two games, so those aren’t too bad with the travel. But Penn State and Rutgers will be during the school year. That’s part of the game. If you want to play big time ball, you’re going to have to travel and go to new stadiums and hostile environments. I think we’re looking forward to that.”

on his memories playing against Big Ten opponents while attending UCLA
“I try to just give them examples of certain situations. They don’t really want to hear about my playing days too much, so I don’t get into that often. Yeah, I beat Michigan, Ohio State and played Wisconsin. We played a lot of Big Ten teams back then.”

on UCLA’s first Big Ten road trip to Penn State
“That’s why we’re excited for the Big Ten. You get the opportunity to play in a lot of stadiums that you usually wouldn’t get the opportunity to. I know our players are excited to do that. Once we get in that week, that’s when we really lock in. Until then, we’re just excited to be in the Big Ten.”

on how he sells the UCLA program for the vision he wants it to be
“I really just opened it up. I wanted people to see what UCLA has to offer. I’m not really a car salesman, so it was more of just, ‘Come out here and see what we’re about. See if you can feel the energy and see if you want to be a part of that.’ It’s been going well so far.”

on his philosophy as head coach
“Three things you will see with my football team are discipline, respect and enthusiasm. Those are my pillars. And no matter what, you should be able to see that. Win, lose or draw. You see my guys in the classroom, you should see that. You see them in the dorms, you should see that. Anywhere, you should be able to see discipline, respect and enthusiasm out of my football players. I think if we do that and we’re able to present that in every game, the outcome will come out in our favor.”

on how important it was instilling a new culture
“I just wanted to play football at a certain level and a certain type (of football). I played football with a high energy, so I wanted my guys to do the same thing. I felt that in some situations we just didn’t bring that energy. And that’s why I was making sure we did that every day in the spring. It’s carrying over into summer training and everything. I’m just excited to see if we can bring it back in training camp.”

on if he might implement any new run concepts and if it will be a heavy run offense
“We’ll probably do all of that, most likely."

Q-and-A with UCLA’s Ethan Garbers (R-Sr. QB), J.Michael Sturdivant (R-Jr. WR) and Jay Toia (Sr. DL), on the Big Ten Network studio set
VIDEO LINK
Redshirt senior quarterback Ethan Garbers
on what he’s seen in DeShaun Foster’s transition to being head coach
“You could just see that that energy around the practice and our building is just different now. We’ve got a different vibe and a different feeling. We’re ready to work and we’re really taking each day at a time and just cementing ourselves.”

on how it feels to know that this year’s team is his team
“It feels great. Just one thing that, more importantly, I’m focused on is winning every game and being the best person I can be and being the best teammate I can be.”

on his reaction to Eric Bieniemy being named offensive coordinator
“We were all so excited. Having the opportunity with someone like that coming in and being our offensive coordinator, you couldn’t be more excited for an opportunity like that. The same guy who coached Patrick Mahomes is going to be coaching us.”

on learning the pro-style offense and verbiage with Eric Bieniemy
“It started off a little difficult. It’s basically like learning a new language. Once you get into it and see the ins and outs and understand why, it makes a lot of sense. I’m at the point where it’s starting to make a lot of sense now.”

on what he has learned from Eric Bieniemy in picking apart defenses
“He wants to take shots and he wants to exploit defenses in areas they need to be exploited at. He’s a really intelligent guy and has a lot of plays we can run and a lot of different things and a lot of different ways to get different guys the ball. He’s really just a genius on and off the field. He’s going to be a great coach.”

Redshirt junior wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant
on the team’s reaction to DeShaun Foster’s hire as head coach
“It was real. We were all in the dark as players. We had no idea who was about to walk around that corner. I know me, my heart was racing when (Martin Jarmond) was doing the speech and interview on who our new head coach was going to be. It was really fun when Fos came around the corner.”

on his connection with quarterback Ethan Garbers
“It’s very easy to play with Garbs. He tells you exactly how he wants it on the field. And then in the huddle, he’s very calm. It gives everyone a lot of confidence when we break the huddle. Playing for Garbs is very easy and he throws dots. It’s really fun to play with a guy like him.”

on learning the pro-style offense and verbiage with Eric Bieniemy
“For the receivers, we’ve got to listen for a couple of words so it’s different from what Garbs and the quarterback have to learn. Learning his offense, he’s made it very easy on the field. He’s very vocal about what he wants and it makes it a lot better to learn the offense in person and not just look at it on the film. EB has made it very easy to learn this offense and I’m very excited for what this offense is going to look like.”

Senior defensive lineman Jay Toia
on his decision to return to UCLA and be a Bruin
“It wasn’t long until I found out that UCLA was the place to be. It was home. It was a pretty quick decision from entering the portal and coming right back. UCLA means the world to me. All of my teammates here, I didn’t want to leave them. I wanted to be with my brothers that I’ve been with for the past three years. This is a big deal to be back.”

on being with Laiatu Latu on NFL Draft Night
“It was like no other. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime. It was great being there and being able to say I know him and I played with him. It was a crazy experience overall.”

on how comfortable as the defense’s leader and what he learned from Laiatu Latu
“I would say I’m pretty comfortable, like you said. Latu saying all those things about me, but I can say those things right back to him. He’s inspirational and easy to follow because everything he does is just right. It’s not hard to follow a guy like that.”

on his relationship with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, who was his line coach in 2023
“Our relationship has been great. Especially because of Laiatu as well. Laiatu played with him at (Washington). Latu pretty much set an example for us that Coach Malloe is there to help us get better every day, which we did. I’m pretty sure our tape last year as a defense was evident of that."

Q-and-A with DeShaun Foster, on the Big Ten Network studio set
VIDEO LINK
on what UCLA means to him
“UCLA is a prestigious university, first. Just the fact that I am able to be the head coach at my university, I am blessed. I’m happy to be in this situation and looking forward to the season.”

on how is life has changed since becoming head coach
“In all aspects. When you’re a position coach, you’re kind of locked in on your position a little bit. I took pride in that, so I was really locked in on my guys. Now that I have the whole team – I like that because I get to touch more people. When I was a running back coach, I could only really get my hands on the offense or the scout team defensive players. Now that I am the head coach, I get Jay Toia, our starting D-tackle, our starting corners, just everybody will be involved. I’m able to touch guys on a bigger scale.”

on opening up the program
“I went back to what made me want to come to UCLA. What did I see? It was basically just the access to the school. Seeing the university, going to the Rose Bowl, seeing them win games. I just wanted to open it up and let people see what UCLA has to offer because the school is amazing. We’re in a great area in Los Angeles. We play top football. We have a great basketball program. Sports are huge at our school. And we’re the No. 1 public institution. So, you get a lot with UCLA. I just want to get it exposed.”

on what’s changed in his interactions with the defense
“It’s changed a lot because I used to speak in offense at practice. I had to change the way that I talk and just certain stuff. I couldn’t just sit in the offensive meeting rooms. I couldn’t just sit there with the running backs. It’s been a steep learning curve, but I was excited for it. Spring went really well and I’m just looking forward to training camp.”

on what he’s looking forward to in training camp
“Just getting out there and seeing the guys continue to compete. They finished off spring ball really well competing. They carried that over into summer conditioning. I just want to see if they bring that back in training camp.”

on what it’s been like working with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy
“He really didn’t dumb (the playbook) down at all. I love that (Bieniemy) just came in there. Ethan (Garbers) wanted the whole offense. He didn’t want just pieces of this. Ethan wanted to know exactly how the plays are going to be called. ‘Don’t baby this install for me and let me grasp it and teach the rest of the team.’ Ethan did a good job of leading the team, learning the offense, teaching our other players on offense. The sky is the limit for our offense. I’m just excited that EB was able to get in here and get some other offensive coaches, teach them the system and they are able to teach our players.”

on scouting the Big Ten and where he wants to continue to build his program
“You’re always scouting. I’ve been checking out all 17 teams. It’s a tough conference. But this is what you want. You want to play big time football. If you’re a big-time football player, you want to play big-time games. I’m excited for this conference. This is going to help us get an opportunity to be in the playoffs. It also gives an opportunity to win in-the-season awards. I’m looking forward to it. Our players are too. Just the access they’re getting and, with playing in the Big Ten, it’s similar to the NFL. You’re going to be traveling to play games and that’s exactly what happens in the NFL. What’s better to figure out your plan and routine now than when you get to the league?”

on how recruiting has changed nationally for UCLA
“Yeah, most definitely. Because now I can tell parents you can see your son play. It was tough coming into the Midwest and asking parents to hand your son over and let me take him back West and you might not see him play unless you come to see us. But now that we’re playing locally and around this area, I’m excited for that. I’ve seen a lot of parents that are open to it. They’re excited about it too because they know the market that LA can bring. And playing in the Big Ten. It’s amazing.”

on his calm demeanor and what he is like personality wise with the team
“It’s the complete opposite of this. Just me as a player, I was never a rah-rah guy. I was into the game. I was locked in. I always felt no matter what you do, it’s still 0-0. That’s just the way I approached it. When we get out on the field, that’s when my personality comes out and that’s when you got to get going. As long as my players – my running backs are very similar to me that I’ve had and coached and it’s worked. I’m not going to make the team be calm and relaxed. I’m just excited. I like to call it athletic arrogance. You have to have that if you want to be a successful player. I’m pretty confident in my coaching abilities.”

on traveling options
“I’ve looked into all of that. I’m still doing a little bit more research. I’ve reached out to the Rams, the Chargers, Seattle (Seahawks). I’ve reached out to Pete Carroll (and) a lot of coaches. I’ve just reached out to a lot of people because I just want to see how everybody has handled that. That’s the biggest thing for us. I’m not really worried about the travel. For me, it’s more the stadiums. Going to Penn State, being in (a crowd of) 100,000. They haven’t seen that. It’s just the ‘wow’ factor. I don’t think the flight is really going to take much out of us, but I think being in the stadium and getting over how big it is, that can affect us.”

on replacing UCLA’s defensive production from last season
“It’s going to be a collective thing. We had some very good individual players, and they played good as a defense. But we can’t just replace those individual players, so the whole defense needs to do that. I’m excited for them. The defense did a really good job in the spring. They played hard. They really got us going offensively. We brought Jay Toia back and that was a huge get for us. He was giving us hell all spring. I think our linemen are pretty excited because they’re not going to see many guys like Jay Toia. It’s tough, but we’re looking forward to it.”

on Ikaika Malloe taking on his new role as defensive coordinator
“It kind of started with the (LA Bowl) because he called our bowl game also. So it started with that. I just let him know that defense wins games, and he knows that too (with) him being a defensive player, being a linebacker at Washington. He understands that we’re going to lean on our defense heavily, especially being in this conference we are in. I just want to let him know to get these guys to play hard, rally, show discipline, respect and enthusiasm, and we should be good.”

on what discipline, respect and enthusiasm means to him
“The discipline aspect, I got that from my father. He was an ex-marine. Just being in the household with him, I’ll always remember him saying, ‘There’s nobody successful that’s not disciplined.’ I’ve always wanted to make sure my players understood that. And when I was a running back coach, that’s all I did: discipline, discipline, discipline. I’m just going to take that and put that on the bigger scale with the team. The respect, it comes from – you have to respect women, teachers, the game, your teammates, professors. The respect aspect comes in every day. That’s life. And then enthusiasm. We just got to have fun. This is football. Have fun out there. When you’re having fun, you’ll do anything if you really think about. When you’ve worked hard for something and you’re having fun, it won’t bother you when it gets tough. I just want my guys to get after it and have fun and just show the type of brand of football that we play.”

on the importance of the UCLA-USC rivalry game
“This is actually the first color rush. We both wear home uniforms. This was before the NFL really jumped on that. Both teams are wearing their home uniforms. That’s kind of what makes it special. You just see the colors of the game out there. I think the distance of schools is what really makes it. When I played in the game, there are guys on the other team I was on the same (high school) team with or we played against each other multiple times throughout our whole lives. Carson Palmer was the quarterback (at USC) when I was (at UCLA). We played against each other multiple times from seventh grade all the way up. It’s just a little deeper rivalry. It’s just exciting when families get involved and it’s not just a game. I’m excited that the rest of the world is going to get to see it. The Big Ten is going to put this rivalry on a whole other scale.”

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UCLA's Big Ten Football Media Days Quotes

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UCLA's Big Ten Football Media Days Quotes