UCLA Football: How Bruins Scored Super Bowl-Winning Coach on DeShaun Foster's Staff

His reasoning makes sense.

Feb 13, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, right, with new head coach DeShaun Foster. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

New UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster spoke with Roku's Rich Eisen on his program The Rich Eisen Show about how the hiring of recent Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who quickly won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, came about.

“I wanted a real presence as my offensive coordinator.”@UCLAFootball head coach @DeShaunFoster26 told us why he reached out to Eric Bieniemy and what he’s expecting joining the Big 10:#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/susRYbAazu

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) May 8, 2024

"Just a real veteran coach that has real NFL knowledge and pedigree, can help develop, teach these young players how to be pros," Foster said. "Just being my first year, I wanted a real presence as my offensive coordinator, somebody that can just command and really demand the kind of discipline I want out of my players."

Bienemy will serve to bring a certain level of professionalism to the mix for UCLA, which is hoping to grow off an 8-5 run in 2023 under former head coach Chip Kelly (Foster was the team's running backs coach last fall).

"I met him years ago but I just reached out to him... once I got the job," Foster revealed. "My pillars are discipline, respect and enthusiasm... Just what I've seen him do in a little bit of time, how he befriends them [is unique]. It's not like he's attacking them, it's just what you're doing. It's not the performer, it's the performance... And for you to get to where you want to go, you've got to get coached up."

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