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UCLA Football: Athletic Director Reportedly Makes Strong Statement About New HC

Foster is endearing himself to the fan base quite well...

Jason Fray

UCLA HC DeShaun Foster
UCLA HC DeShaun Foster / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Things are different in Westwood nowadays.

When athletic director Martin Jarmond opted to hire DeShaun Foster as the UCLA Bruins football coach, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

Foster had no head coaching experience prior to landing the gig. The thought of reversing the fortunes of this program was also daunting. Objectively speaking, Chip Kelly cratered the program -- and robbed any joy it once had. Suffice it to say, but Foster has his work cut out for himself.

On Saturday, UCLA held its Spring Showcase. The team was having somewhat of a scripted game out at the Rose Bowl with reportedly close to 20,000 in attendance. Lunch was served inside one of the major donor tents. With the media included, Gavin Carlson of The Daily Bruin was able to nab this quote from Jarmond as he spoke about Foster:

Foster hasn't coached a game yet, though he's doing everything in the opposite direction to what Kelly did...and that's a good thing.

The staff he's put together is approaching this job with tons of energy and effort. This extends to community outreach, the fan base, and also in regards to recruiting.

Instead of going through the motions, or operating with unnecessary secrecy, the program has been made accessible to everyone. This also includes ex-players who are welcomed back with open arms.

Plenty of work has to be done to make UCLA a bowl team this year. Adding players through the portal will be key. With that said, things seem to be trending upward in Westwood.

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Jason Fray

JASON FRAY

Jason Fray is a proud native of Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA in 2011, he's written for a number of publications -- including Bleacher Report, FOX Sports, Saturday Down South, and New Arena. In his downtime, he enjoys writing scripts, going to shows, weekly pub trivia with the boys, trying the best hole-in-the-wall food spots around town, and traveling (22 countries & counting).