Football
Foster, DeShaun
DeShaun Foster
- Title:
- Head Coach
Former UCLA All-American and NFL standout DeShaun Foster completed his first season as head coach of his alma materโs football program in 2024. He was elevated to the role on Feb. 12, 2024.
Foster spent the previous 11 seasons, including 10 at UCLA, in the collegiate coaching ranks. He also coached one year at Texas Tech. Foster spent the 2017-2023 campaigns as the Bruins' running backs coach, adding the title of associate head coach in 2023.
Foster debuted as head coach by guiding UCLA through its initial season in the Big Ten Conference. The Bruins earned their programโs first-ever Big Ten win at Rutgers and rode that showing to a three-game win streak that also included victories at Nebraska and versus Iowa. UCLA would win four of its last six games. Under Foster, linebacker Carson Schwesinger completed his evolution from walk-on to first-team All-American. Schwesinger led the nation with 90 solo tackles and a solo-tackles-per-game rate of 7.5 while pacing the Big Ten in a number of categories, including total tackles (136). He was a Butkus Award finalist as one of the nationโs best at his position.
In 2023, the UCLA rushing attack led the Pac-12 for the second straight season (191.1 yards per game) with four backs in the regular rotation averaging at least 5.1 yards per carry. Carson Steele (847 yards) and T.J. Harden (722) led the ground attack while ranking seventh and 10th in the conference in rushing yards per game, respectively.ย
In the fall of 2022, Foster was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and nominated for the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach. Zach Charbonnet became the fourth Bruin running back selected in the NFL Draft over the past four seasons when he was chosen by the Seattle Seahawks. Following the 2022 campaign, Foster was elevated to Associate Head Coach, Running Backs.
In 2022, UCLA led the Pac-12 and ranked sixth in the nation in rushing offense (237.2). It marked the first time UCLA had topped the conference in rushing since the 1976 season. The Bruins rushed for 200 yards or more in nine regular season contests during the year, including three of over 300 yards. UCLA set a new school record with an average of 503.6 yards of total offense per game, a mark which rated fourth in the nation. Charbonnet, who paced the nation in all-purpose yards per game (168.0), became the ninth Bruin to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (1,359). He topped the Pac-12 in rushing (135.9 yards per game) and ranked fourth nationally. Bruin rushers led the Pac-12 with a 6.1 yards per carry average. The Bruin running backs caught over 60 passes on the year and scored five receiving TDs.
In 2021, the Bruins ran for at least 200 yards in all eight wins during the regular season. UCLA's average of 215.1 rush yards per game ranked 14th in the nation. Charbonnet led all Pac-12 rushers with seven 100-yard games this season. He ranked second in the conference in rushing yards per game (94.8) and overall rushing yards (1,137). Brittain Brown's 6.03 yards per carry mark was the best by a Pac-12 back. He also ranked eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (61.5). The Bruins led the Pac-12 in scoring ย (36.5, 12th in NCAA) and were second in total offense (441.2, 31st in NCAA).
In the 2020 campaign, UCLA rushers averaged 5.1 yards per carry while upping their rushing average by over 70 yards per contest and finishing over 200 yards per gameย for just the fourth time since 1990. It was the highest average per carry for Bruin running backs since the 1976 squad posted a 5.4 yards per carry mark. UCLA finished 12th in the nation and second in the Pac-12ย in rushing yards per game (230.6). It rated 30th nationallyย in total offense (455.0) and 20th in scoring offense (35.4). Demetric Felton Jr., a consensus All-Pac-12 selection who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, ranked 14th in the nation and fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing average (111.3). He was ranked sixth in the nation as the conference leader in all-purpose yardage (165.8). Brown rated 15th in the nation in rushing yards per carry (6.62), eighth in the league in rushing (77.6) and was a second-team all-conference pick by PFF. Felton and Brown each gained over 500 yards on the season while averaging at least 5.0 yards per carry to become just the third Bruin duo to hit that pair of milestones since 1975 (Johnathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman in 2011; Wendell Tyler and Theotis Brown in 1976).ย ย
In 2019, Joshua Kelley became the eighth Bruin to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Kelley, who was selected by the Chargers in the 2020 NFL Draft, finished second in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game average. Felton set a school mark for a running back with 55 receptions and another record with four scoring plays of at least 75-yards of length during the season. UCLA produced five straight 200-yard rushing games in a season for the first time since the 1978 campaign. Kelley completed his careerย 14th on the school career rushing list after just two seasons and with a total of 10 100-yard rushing games to his credit, 10th on that all-time school list.
In 2018, UCLA's rushing attack improved by a margin of over 40 yards per game on average. Kelley ran for 1,243 yards, the 10th-highest single-season total in school history. In addition, the junior back racked up 289 rushing yards against USC, the most by any back in the rivalry series, and the third-highest total in school history. Kelley, who ranked ninth in FBS rushing yards per game, finished with six 100-yard rushing games during the season.ย The Bruins generated over 432 yards of offense, on average, over the course of the last eight games of the season, including over 164 yards per game on the ground.
In 2017, Fosterโs Bruin running backs upped their rushing average per carry by almost a yard per attempt. Rushing yardage, rushing touchdowns and rushing first downs all went up for the Bruins. UCLA ranked third in the conference in total offense. The top four running backs each produced career-high rushing totals during the season and also generated new highs for receptions.
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Prior to joining the Texas Tech staff, Foster began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at UCLA in 2013 while also returning to school.ย In 2014, in addition to his work on the field, Foster completed his degree and graduated from UCLA.ย In 2015, he was promoted to Director of Player Development and High School Relations.
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The Bruins were among the top programs in the country during Fosterโs tenure assisting with the running backs, going 28-11 overall with three bowl appearances during that span. Foster was instrumental in the development of Paul Perkins, who capped off his career third all-time at UCLA in rushing yards.
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Foster joined the coaching ranks not long after a successful seven-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers in which he recorded more than 4,500 total yards and 16 touchdowns โ 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and another 1,129 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
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Fosterโs strong pro numbers came after he missed his rookie season due to a preseason injury. A second-round selection by the Panthers in the 2002 NFL Draft, he recovered from that first-year setback to rush for over 600 combined regular season and playoff yards as Carolina advanced all the way to the Super Bowl.ย In Super Bowl XXXVIII, Foster rushed three times for 43 yards, including a 33-yard run into the end zone to pull Carolina within a single score against the New England Patriots early in the fourth quarter. It was the fifth-longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history.
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Foster put together his best three professional seasons from 2005-07 to close his career with the Panthers, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in 2005 with a combined 1,084 yards on the ground during the regular season and two playoff games.ย Foster rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games late in the year, totaling 165 yards in the regular-season finale with Atlanta before pounding out 151 yards in Carolinaโs 23-0 shutout of the New York Giants to open the NFC playoffs.
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Foster followed up his 2005 campaign with a regular season-high 897 yards in 2006.ย The following year, he closed out his tenure with the Panthers by posting 876 yards before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason, where he would play one season before hanging up his cleats.ย
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Foster is one of the most accomplished UCLA running backs in school history. He completed his career second on the all-time touchdowns scored list (44), third on the schoolโs all-time rushing list (3,194 yds) and fifth on the all-time Bruin scoring list (266 pts). Foster was ranked 18th on the Pac-10 career rushing list when he left Westwood, and his 722 career rushing attempts were the most in school history. His 13 100-yard career rushing games ranked fifth on UCLAโs all-time list and led to his earning first-team All-Pac-10 selections following the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
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As a senior in 2001, he led the Pac-10 in rushing with a 138.6 yards per game average, in scoring with a mark of 9.75 points per game and in all-purpose yardage at 154.75 yards per game. He rushed for 1,109 yards, the 10th highest total in school history, after becoming the first Bruin to reach the 1,000-yard mark in as few as seven games. On Oct. 13, playing against a University of Washington defense which had not allowed a rushing touchdown all year, Foster exploded for a school-record 301 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries. His final scoring run of the contest came on a 92-yard jaunt, the second-longest in school history. He became just the third Pac-10 player, at the time, to have rushed for over 300-yards in a game.
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In 2000, he ran for 1,037 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. In the season-opener against Alabama, he tied a school record with 42 carries and finished with 187 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In 1999, he was limited to 375 rushing yards after suffering a severe ankle sprain early in the season. He also played five defensive snaps in the Bruin secondary that season.
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In 1998, Foster burst onto the college scene with a school freshman record 673 yards rushing and scored 12 touchdowns. He was the first true freshman to lead a UCLA team in rushing since Skip Hicks in 1993. He scored all four touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving) in UCLAโs 34-17 win over USC to tie the school record and set a new mark for Bruin true freshmen.
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A local product, as a Tustin High School senior, Foster rushed for 3,398 yards and scored 59 touchdowns, ultimately setting single-season (55) and career (90) CIF Southern Section marks for rushing touchdowns.
He is married to Charity Foster, and has two sons, Noel Washington (15 years old) and Nolen Washington (13), and three daughters, Viviana Foster (nine), Destiny Foster (one) and Dream Foster (born in February 2025).
Foster spent the previous 11 seasons, including 10 at UCLA, in the collegiate coaching ranks. He also coached one year at Texas Tech. Foster spent the 2017-2023 campaigns as the Bruins' running backs coach, adding the title of associate head coach in 2023.
Foster debuted as head coach by guiding UCLA through its initial season in the Big Ten Conference. The Bruins earned their programโs first-ever Big Ten win at Rutgers and rode that showing to a three-game win streak that also included victories at Nebraska and versus Iowa. UCLA would win four of its last six games. Under Foster, linebacker Carson Schwesinger completed his evolution from walk-on to first-team All-American. Schwesinger led the nation with 90 solo tackles and a solo-tackles-per-game rate of 7.5 while pacing the Big Ten in a number of categories, including total tackles (136). He was a Butkus Award finalist as one of the nationโs best at his position.
In 2023, the UCLA rushing attack led the Pac-12 for the second straight season (191.1 yards per game) with four backs in the regular rotation averaging at least 5.1 yards per carry. Carson Steele (847 yards) and T.J. Harden (722) led the ground attack while ranking seventh and 10th in the conference in rushing yards per game, respectively.ย
In the fall of 2022, Foster was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and nominated for the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach. Zach Charbonnet became the fourth Bruin running back selected in the NFL Draft over the past four seasons when he was chosen by the Seattle Seahawks. Following the 2022 campaign, Foster was elevated to Associate Head Coach, Running Backs.
In 2022, UCLA led the Pac-12 and ranked sixth in the nation in rushing offense (237.2). It marked the first time UCLA had topped the conference in rushing since the 1976 season. The Bruins rushed for 200 yards or more in nine regular season contests during the year, including three of over 300 yards. UCLA set a new school record with an average of 503.6 yards of total offense per game, a mark which rated fourth in the nation. Charbonnet, who paced the nation in all-purpose yards per game (168.0), became the ninth Bruin to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (1,359). He topped the Pac-12 in rushing (135.9 yards per game) and ranked fourth nationally. Bruin rushers led the Pac-12 with a 6.1 yards per carry average. The Bruin running backs caught over 60 passes on the year and scored five receiving TDs.
In 2021, the Bruins ran for at least 200 yards in all eight wins during the regular season. UCLA's average of 215.1 rush yards per game ranked 14th in the nation. Charbonnet led all Pac-12 rushers with seven 100-yard games this season. He ranked second in the conference in rushing yards per game (94.8) and overall rushing yards (1,137). Brittain Brown's 6.03 yards per carry mark was the best by a Pac-12 back. He also ranked eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (61.5). The Bruins led the Pac-12 in scoring ย (36.5, 12th in NCAA) and were second in total offense (441.2, 31st in NCAA).
In the 2020 campaign, UCLA rushers averaged 5.1 yards per carry while upping their rushing average by over 70 yards per contest and finishing over 200 yards per gameย for just the fourth time since 1990. It was the highest average per carry for Bruin running backs since the 1976 squad posted a 5.4 yards per carry mark. UCLA finished 12th in the nation and second in the Pac-12ย in rushing yards per game (230.6). It rated 30th nationallyย in total offense (455.0) and 20th in scoring offense (35.4). Demetric Felton Jr., a consensus All-Pac-12 selection who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, ranked 14th in the nation and fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing average (111.3). He was ranked sixth in the nation as the conference leader in all-purpose yardage (165.8). Brown rated 15th in the nation in rushing yards per carry (6.62), eighth in the league in rushing (77.6) and was a second-team all-conference pick by PFF. Felton and Brown each gained over 500 yards on the season while averaging at least 5.0 yards per carry to become just the third Bruin duo to hit that pair of milestones since 1975 (Johnathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman in 2011; Wendell Tyler and Theotis Brown in 1976).ย ย
In 2019, Joshua Kelley became the eighth Bruin to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Kelley, who was selected by the Chargers in the 2020 NFL Draft, finished second in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game average. Felton set a school mark for a running back with 55 receptions and another record with four scoring plays of at least 75-yards of length during the season. UCLA produced five straight 200-yard rushing games in a season for the first time since the 1978 campaign. Kelley completed his careerย 14th on the school career rushing list after just two seasons and with a total of 10 100-yard rushing games to his credit, 10th on that all-time school list.
In 2018, UCLA's rushing attack improved by a margin of over 40 yards per game on average. Kelley ran for 1,243 yards, the 10th-highest single-season total in school history. In addition, the junior back racked up 289 rushing yards against USC, the most by any back in the rivalry series, and the third-highest total in school history. Kelley, who ranked ninth in FBS rushing yards per game, finished with six 100-yard rushing games during the season.ย The Bruins generated over 432 yards of offense, on average, over the course of the last eight games of the season, including over 164 yards per game on the ground.
In 2017, Fosterโs Bruin running backs upped their rushing average per carry by almost a yard per attempt. Rushing yardage, rushing touchdowns and rushing first downs all went up for the Bruins. UCLA ranked third in the conference in total offense. The top four running backs each produced career-high rushing totals during the season and also generated new highs for receptions.
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Prior to joining the Texas Tech staff, Foster began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at UCLA in 2013 while also returning to school.ย In 2014, in addition to his work on the field, Foster completed his degree and graduated from UCLA.ย In 2015, he was promoted to Director of Player Development and High School Relations.
ย
The Bruins were among the top programs in the country during Fosterโs tenure assisting with the running backs, going 28-11 overall with three bowl appearances during that span. Foster was instrumental in the development of Paul Perkins, who capped off his career third all-time at UCLA in rushing yards.
ย
Foster joined the coaching ranks not long after a successful seven-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers in which he recorded more than 4,500 total yards and 16 touchdowns โ 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and another 1,129 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
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Fosterโs strong pro numbers came after he missed his rookie season due to a preseason injury. A second-round selection by the Panthers in the 2002 NFL Draft, he recovered from that first-year setback to rush for over 600 combined regular season and playoff yards as Carolina advanced all the way to the Super Bowl.ย In Super Bowl XXXVIII, Foster rushed three times for 43 yards, including a 33-yard run into the end zone to pull Carolina within a single score against the New England Patriots early in the fourth quarter. It was the fifth-longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history.
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Foster put together his best three professional seasons from 2005-07 to close his career with the Panthers, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in 2005 with a combined 1,084 yards on the ground during the regular season and two playoff games.ย Foster rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games late in the year, totaling 165 yards in the regular-season finale with Atlanta before pounding out 151 yards in Carolinaโs 23-0 shutout of the New York Giants to open the NFC playoffs.
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Foster followed up his 2005 campaign with a regular season-high 897 yards in 2006.ย The following year, he closed out his tenure with the Panthers by posting 876 yards before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason, where he would play one season before hanging up his cleats.ย
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Foster is one of the most accomplished UCLA running backs in school history. He completed his career second on the all-time touchdowns scored list (44), third on the schoolโs all-time rushing list (3,194 yds) and fifth on the all-time Bruin scoring list (266 pts). Foster was ranked 18th on the Pac-10 career rushing list when he left Westwood, and his 722 career rushing attempts were the most in school history. His 13 100-yard career rushing games ranked fifth on UCLAโs all-time list and led to his earning first-team All-Pac-10 selections following the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
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As a senior in 2001, he led the Pac-10 in rushing with a 138.6 yards per game average, in scoring with a mark of 9.75 points per game and in all-purpose yardage at 154.75 yards per game. He rushed for 1,109 yards, the 10th highest total in school history, after becoming the first Bruin to reach the 1,000-yard mark in as few as seven games. On Oct. 13, playing against a University of Washington defense which had not allowed a rushing touchdown all year, Foster exploded for a school-record 301 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries. His final scoring run of the contest came on a 92-yard jaunt, the second-longest in school history. He became just the third Pac-10 player, at the time, to have rushed for over 300-yards in a game.
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In 2000, he ran for 1,037 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. In the season-opener against Alabama, he tied a school record with 42 carries and finished with 187 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In 1999, he was limited to 375 rushing yards after suffering a severe ankle sprain early in the season. He also played five defensive snaps in the Bruin secondary that season.
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In 1998, Foster burst onto the college scene with a school freshman record 673 yards rushing and scored 12 touchdowns. He was the first true freshman to lead a UCLA team in rushing since Skip Hicks in 1993. He scored all four touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving) in UCLAโs 34-17 win over USC to tie the school record and set a new mark for Bruin true freshmen.
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A local product, as a Tustin High School senior, Foster rushed for 3,398 yards and scored 59 touchdowns, ultimately setting single-season (55) and career (90) CIF Southern Section marks for rushing touchdowns.
He is married to Charity Foster, and has two sons, Noel Washington (15 years old) and Nolen Washington (13), and three daughters, Viviana Foster (nine), Destiny Foster (one) and Dream Foster (born in February 2025).
UCLA Football Postgame - Players, at UNLV (Sept. 6, 2025)
Sunday, September 07
UCLA Football Postgame - Players, at UNLV (Sept. 6, 2025)
Saturday, September 06
UCLA Football Postgame - Coach Foster, at UNLV (Sept. 6, 2025)
Saturday, September 06
Bruin Insider Show - DeShaun Foster (Sept. 4, 2025)
Thursday, September 04
