DeShaun Foster Finds Power in Authenticity Following 2024 Media Day Stumble

Once again, if you weren't aware, UCLA is in fact in Los Angeles. And Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster made it a point to remind everyone at 2025 Big Ten Media Days.

Foster's painfully awkward introduction at the 2024 Big Ten Media Days not only stuck with the general public, but it also stuck with him. Except, he's embracing it as one of his and his program's greatest strengths ahead of his second year at the helm. The authenticity of his infamous stumble shows the importance of authenticity.

"Well, everyone, I'm back," Foster said jokingly in his opening remarks. "Last year, I sat up here and reminded everyone that UCLA is in LA. Which, looking back, might have been the most obvious geography lesson in Big Ten history. But, you know what? Important things are worth stating clearly. We are in LA. And we're proud to be in LA. And this year, we're ready to show the Big Ten what it looks like when LA football is firing on all cylinders.

"That moment, speaking to you last year, taught me a valuable lesson -- authenticity resonates more deeply than perfection. Our players saw me being human, and it brought us even closer together. We've been joking about it for about a year now.

"The players know that that same genuine approach is how we coach, recruit and build this program."

One of the greatest signs of authenticity as a person, much less a head coach, is the ability to be able to poke fun at yourself -- be authentic. Even when I watched back at Foster's 2024 Big Ten presser ahead of writing this story, I cringed painfully.

But what resonated most with me was that I could feel most looking back was Foster's genuineness seeping through the screen. That is the same approach that he and his coaching staff have taken on ahead of their 2025 season.

Foster finished his debut coaching season with a 5-7 record but has since changed the trajectory of the program in his first full offseason, conjuring up UCLA's best recruiting class in over a decade. This upcoming year is highlighted by an overhauled and reworked roster via the transfer portal, headlined by redshirt sophomore transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Foster may have his work cut out for him, but UCLA's trajectory as a program is looking up.

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