Speaker 1: I'm happy for Regid.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we are in UCLA's team meeting room.
Speaker 3: Look at this place, man.
Speaker 2: Look nice seats, a little comfy, sit down, listen to Coat,
Speaker 2: watch some nice film.
Speaker 3: Man. This thing is nice.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: The acoustics are good, the sound is good.
Speaker 2: And then and then look what you get a chance
Speaker 2: nice practice field in the background. This is Los Angeles, baby,
Speaker 2: you can't beat it. And now we are joined by
Speaker 2: head coach of the UCLA Bruins, UCLA brewin legend, one
Speaker 2: of the best running backs to ever play here, Deshaun
Speaker 2: foster Man.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the show man.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me appreciate you.
Speaker 2: First of all, congratulations head coat, head of UCLA. So
Speaker 2: when you were playing here at UCLA, could you have
Speaker 2: ever imagined that you would be the head coach at UCLA.
Speaker 1: No, that wasn't a dream of mine, not until after
Speaker 1: I retired and everything. But you know, it's just so
Speaker 1: soorreal being able to be the head coach here at
Speaker 1: the university that I played at. A lot of blood
Speaker 1: sweating tears out there on that field, and you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to come back full circle, it was
Speaker 1: pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So you were here under Tip Kelly you leave,
Speaker 2: take a job in the NFL, and then what February twelfth,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, you're the head coach.
Speaker 3: Tell me about that time in between.
Speaker 1: It was a good three days. Didn't really move to Vegas,
Speaker 1: didn't didn't leave the city yet. Yeah, that was Super
Speaker 1: Bowl Sunday, okay. And then after Super Bowl Martin called
Speaker 1: me and I went over to his house and he
Speaker 1: offered me a job. So it was it was a
Speaker 1: world wind, you know. But I'm excited about it, you know,
Speaker 1: great opportunity and I'm just ready to get out there
Speaker 1: and play some ball.
Speaker 2: So how important is it to you being that you
Speaker 2: played at UCLA? You like you said, blood, sweat and
Speaker 2: tears in the Rolls bowl on the field, at practice
Speaker 2: in the building. How important is it to you to
Speaker 2: return UCLA to greatness?
Speaker 1: It's a lot, because you know, I'm invested in this.
Speaker 1: I'm a brewing through and through, and it's just something
Speaker 1: that I want to see the school get back to
Speaker 1: just where we were at, just the type of ball
Speaker 1: that we were playing, you know, get back to and
Speaker 1: just the top of we were top of the pack
Speaker 1: at that time, and you know, hopefully we can do
Speaker 1: the same as a big.
Speaker 2: Too, and what things need to be done at UCLA
Speaker 2: now to return UCLA to where you want it to be.
Speaker 1: Just exposure, getting it just getting the brand out there.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, people know about UCLA, but they haven't been
Speaker 1: over here and really felted or seen it or just
Speaker 1: really been a part of it. So I just want
Speaker 1: to make it open so everybody can come out here
Speaker 1: and then just let them feel what we really have
Speaker 1: to offer, because I don't think you can get a
Speaker 1: true feel about us unless you come out to practice
Speaker 1: and feel the energy and just feel the vibe.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's one thing that I feel like is
Speaker 2: different now, is that there is an energy surrounding UCLA. Like,
Speaker 2: what are some of the things that you're doing to
Speaker 2: kind of create that energy, not just within your own team,
Speaker 2: but in the community, the recruiting space and everything else.
Speaker 1: Just trying to hit the ground running, getting as much
Speaker 1: exposure as I can, getting recruits over here multiple times,
Speaker 1: the coaches also donors, you know, just I want everybody
Speaker 1: to really feel UCLA and and see how much of
Speaker 1: a family we are. You know, UCLA has been taking
Speaker 1: care of me since ninety eight. You know, it's a
Speaker 1: long time. Yeah, so it's this is a true you know,
Speaker 1: it's a true forty year plan that UCLA has and
Speaker 1: I'm just glad that I can actually show people and
Speaker 1: I'm the walking blueprint of it.
Speaker 2: And you have obviously the landscape of college football has
Speaker 2: changed since I came home my recruiting trip with your
Speaker 2: your last year there, and like there's ni L, there
Speaker 2: is you know, the transfer for a portal. You as
Speaker 2: a you know, as a first year head coach, what's
Speaker 2: your plan to deal with n I L.
Speaker 1: First of all, just you gotta you gotta embrace it.
Speaker 1: It's something that's not going anywhere, So you gotta embrace it.
Speaker 1: You gotta get the donors and everybody up to speed
Speaker 1: so they understand exactly what this is. And then you
Speaker 1: gotta have a plan. You know, you can't just go
Speaker 1: in there and just trying to throw money at everybody.
Speaker 1: You have to have a plan, and you have to
Speaker 1: market the program and you have to have a plan
Speaker 1: into letting them know exactly what we have to offer
Speaker 1: in that space.
Speaker 3: And so how do you react now? Right? Because it's
Speaker 3: public knowledge.
Speaker 2: You you had a little controversy when when when you
Speaker 2: were in school that would be called nil now or
Speaker 2: something like that. Do you look back at it now
Speaker 2: and just like Reggie Bush does's like, come on, come on, man,
Speaker 2: this is I.
Speaker 1: Mean, it is what it is. But you know it's
Speaker 1: I'm just glad that it's come full circle and players
Speaker 1: and athletes are being compensated for what they're doing, you know.
Speaker 2: So yeah, because it's I remember, you know, looking back
Speaker 2: at it and saying.
Speaker 3: Hold up, we hold value.
Speaker 2: That we are bringing money into to the university. So
Speaker 2: so does that make you smile? And are you excited
Speaker 2: about it that a guy that you were in school with,
Speaker 2: Ed O'Bannon helped like spearhead where things are now like
Speaker 2: UCLA is literally the hub of nil and being on
Speaker 2: the forefront of things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just they Ede Bannon helped everybody get ahead of it,
Speaker 1: you know. So I'm just glad that we were able
Speaker 1: to capitalize in that space and now these athletes are
Speaker 1: able to capitalize on their name likeness.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And that also leads to the transfer portal because part
Speaker 2: of it is talent acquisition, but then it's also talent development,
Speaker 2: roster retention, Like what's your plan in terms of getting
Speaker 2: UCLA to be the best roster possible.
Speaker 1: You still have to recruit high school kids. And like
Speaker 1: I said before, I treat high school kids as draft picks,
Speaker 1: so we think you're like a first, second, or third
Speaker 1: round draft pick. And then free agents or portal kids.
Speaker 1: You know, if we got to plug a hole somewhere,
Speaker 1: we'll get a portal guy. But you still got to
Speaker 1: recruit and develop. That's the main thing. So I still
Speaker 1: want to recruit the high school kids, develop them, and
Speaker 1: then if I have any holes open, then I can
Speaker 1: plug that with portal guys. But once you get guys
Speaker 1: in my system and get them developed, I shouldn't have
Speaker 1: to go to the portal too much. Yeah.
Speaker 2: See, I love that, Like that makes me happy because
Speaker 2: everybody is well not everybody, but there's a lot of
Speaker 2: people who are just trying to bigger, better deal. And
Speaker 2: you know, but I think that development of talent is
Speaker 2: going to be like the new currency because that's going
Speaker 2: to help you retain your roster exactly. And in terms
Speaker 2: of recruiting, Southern California huge recruiting landscape. Kids you know
Speaker 2: from you know, from down in the south all the
Speaker 2: way up to the north. Are you focusing heavily in
Speaker 2: California or are you taking a more national approach on
Speaker 2: your recruiting.
Speaker 1: I still want to put a fence up in California
Speaker 1: just to keep the local talent here. That is good,
Speaker 1: but I do want to cast a bigger net and
Speaker 1: recruit nationally. UCLA has a brand that's national, and we
Speaker 1: should be able to recruit nationally. I played with a
Speaker 1: lot of guys that were from out of state.
Speaker 2: So yeah, And what are some of the things that
Speaker 2: you're looking for in recruits outside of the tangiles, right,
Speaker 2: because everybody knows like somebody who's big, fast, strong, throws
Speaker 2: the ball well, catches the ball. What are some of
Speaker 2: the intangibles that you're looking for that represent UCLA football.
Speaker 1: It's more of like mental stuff. How does he compete
Speaker 1: in the classroom? Does he do it the same way
Speaker 1: on the field as he does on the field. What's
Speaker 1: his exceptional trait? You know, I can't bring guys in
Speaker 1: here that's gonna tell there on our culture. This is
Speaker 1: a true family environment, true family culture. My guys play
Speaker 1: hard for each other, they play hard for me, but
Speaker 1: because they trust me, So I can't have guys in
Speaker 1: here that's gonna tear that down. Because we're gonna be
Speaker 1: taking steps back. But as long as these kids are
Speaker 1: you know I I do a good job at finding
Speaker 1: why they're playing ball. Yeah, why are they like this?
Speaker 1: Then we should be okle.
Speaker 2: To exceptional ability. You just said exceptionally, Explain to me what.
Speaker 1: That means, just your exceptional traite? Like, what do you
Speaker 1: get to? So let's go back to you. What would
Speaker 1: you say your exceptional trade was coming out of high school?
Speaker 1: What's something that you do you show on film or
Speaker 1: in your games every game every Friday night.
Speaker 2: Oh, just that I was gonna play with a lot
Speaker 2: of energy and be and just make special plays exactly.
Speaker 1: Okay, so motor okay, right, yeah, okay, that's an exceptional trait.
Speaker 1: Now now how often does he get to an exceptional trait?
Speaker 1: Do you see that in every play?
Speaker 3: Okay? Yeah, that's what I want because.
Speaker 1: It's a I would say mine might have been visioned
Speaker 1: stiff arms something like that. Are you seeing Do I
Speaker 1: get to my move like basketball? You get to his move?
Speaker 3: Okay? Yeah, Kenny?
Speaker 2: Can he get to his spot and then execute? And
Speaker 2: I remember watching you play in college and watching you
Speaker 2: play in the rolls.
Speaker 3: Ball big back.
Speaker 2: I mean like, I mean, what what Dereck Henry was,
Speaker 2: Now this is what you were at that at that
Speaker 2: point and point in time, is the big back gonna
Speaker 2: be making a comeback?
Speaker 1: I mean I hope. So I just want the back
Speaker 1: to make the comeback. Ye right, you know, before we
Speaker 1: even get the size of let's just get running backs back.
Speaker 1: But I think it's gonna come full circle. Christians joining
Speaker 1: a good job in the NFL, just being consistent. Yeah,
Speaker 1: by year other guys are doing the same thing. But
Speaker 1: you know, we got to get the value back on
Speaker 1: that position.
Speaker 2: And you got a chance to play in a super
Speaker 2: Bowl with the Carolina Panthers. What does what are you
Speaker 2: able to take from you know, your experience in the
Speaker 2: NFL to use in a college environment.
Speaker 1: Just letting him know about the adversity that you're gonna
Speaker 1: go through. Nothing's gonna go smoothly. That Super Bowl went
Speaker 1: up and down, up and down. Yeah, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So you got to always just prepare, never
Speaker 1: take anything for granted, and always finish the game.
Speaker 3: You know. Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 1: I think that was our biggest thing in that Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: We didn't quit. Yeah we might have been down, but
Speaker 1: we didn't quit. Yeah, we kept fighting, kept fighting, got
Speaker 1: back within I think we tied it up and then
Speaker 1: lost my field goals.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So to go back when you were getting ready to
Speaker 2: go out to Vegas, you were getting ready to take
Speaker 2: take the job with AP out there, and how cool
Speaker 2: is it for you and AP to begin your first
Speaker 2: shot at the same.
Speaker 1: Time, It's awesome because I was taking that job to
Speaker 1: help support one of my friends in that situation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: him the job of the Raiders and changing the narrative
Speaker 1: of NFL head coaches, you know. Yeah, I kind of
Speaker 1: liked that story, so I wanted to be involved in it,
Speaker 1: and you know, I was just thankful that he understood
Speaker 1: what was going on. And yeah, I'm in the same
Speaker 1: situation he's in in college. So yeah, you know, we
Speaker 1: want to change this narrative and just let you know,
Speaker 1: ex players can play, we can teach, we can coach,
Speaker 1: and you know we're knowledgeable just like other coaches.
Speaker 2: See, I love that too, because you have so many
Speaker 2: former players right who who want to be in coaching
Speaker 2: and have so much value. But to see them get
Speaker 2: involved in it and then get the opportunities, Man, I
Speaker 2: love it. I love it when you're looking at you know,
Speaker 2: being a first year at head coach, right, you obviously
Speaker 2: have to have some mentors or people that you're going
Speaker 2: to call when, you know, when times get hard or
Speaker 2: you just need some advice.
Speaker 3: Who are some of those people that you're going to
Speaker 3: lean on.
Speaker 1: Most of my running back coaches Kelly Skipper, Jim Skipper,
Speaker 1: Jim's retired. Kelly's the running back coach with the Bills.
Speaker 1: I had Kelly and college. I played for gym in
Speaker 1: the NFL. There that's his dad. Okay, yeah, so I've
Speaker 1: been to Skipper family for a long time. Kennedy, Oh,
Speaker 1: I love coaching.
Speaker 2: He's probably one of the smartest, like guys where he
Speaker 2: taught like the wine back with the Bob and with.
Speaker 1: The man everything. And he's somebody that really gave me
Speaker 1: a platform when I was his assistant. He gave me
Speaker 1: a platform and really let me coach. Yeah, he helped
Speaker 1: me find my my voice basically, you know. So, oh
Speaker 1: a lot to him, Todd Bowles, any and everybody that's
Speaker 1: been a head coach has reached out to me. Dave Roberts,
Speaker 1: so it's been It's been a lot of people. Pete Carrol,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like guys just reaching out
Speaker 1: and won and it to talk to me, just try
Speaker 1: to give me tools and ways to help me be successful. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So it was just awesome, even from different sports. So
Speaker 1: that's what was cool about That's dope.
Speaker 2: When you were here obviously with the with the last
Speaker 2: regime with Chip Kelly, what did what did you learn under?
Speaker 3: Under Chip?
Speaker 1: He knows that that run game, you know, Coach Kelly
Speaker 1: taught me a lot in that run game. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's exceptional mind. He's very gifted in the offense coordinator,
Speaker 1: just as a football coach, you know. So I just
Speaker 1: loved everything that I tie. He's a true players coach,
Speaker 1: just in the and and that's in the aspect of
Speaker 1: wanting to take care of your body.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: He wants his guys to be full.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's all about the science. Like he's all about
Speaker 2: the science.
Speaker 1: So I like that component about it because he never
Speaker 1: wants to put your body in a bad or a
Speaker 1: compromising situation. And that's a true player coach.
Speaker 2: That's an interesting thing because people fashion themselves as players coaches,
Speaker 2: and you think that that's the difference in being a
Speaker 2: players coach.
Speaker 1: You're taking care of them or you just a friend.
Speaker 1: He's taking care of your body.
Speaker 2: Well, well, I guess that's like the difference in a
Speaker 2: different way between being a parent and being a friend,
Speaker 2: Like like am I doing what's best for you?
Speaker 3: Or am I just trying.
Speaker 2: To be cool with you? Fact UCLA is headed to
Speaker 2: the Big ten. They it is the Big ten? Is Oh,
Speaker 2: it's just physicality and all these things. But and UCLA
Speaker 2: kind of I think gets a bad rap because if
Speaker 2: you look at the team last year, they ran the ball,
Speaker 2: they would run the ball down your throat, played physical,
Speaker 2: strong defense. But why is there this perception about UCLA
Speaker 2: is not as physical as everybody else?
Speaker 1: No idea, because it was almost the same thing when
Speaker 1: I was in school. Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 3: Just is it the colors? Is it what?
Speaker 1: I have no idea what it is. But all we
Speaker 1: can do is just keep lighting up each Saturday and playing,
Speaker 1: you know. And I think my guys do a good
Speaker 1: job of that. They don't get too frustrated, they don't
Speaker 1: hear the noise. They know it's there, yeah, but they
Speaker 1: don't get too too caught up in it. They just
Speaker 1: let it go and just let their their past talking.
Speaker 2: What does success look like? U c l A and
Speaker 2: year one in five years from now.
Speaker 1: Number one thing we want to do is make sure
Speaker 1: that you see my pillars every game we're out there.
Speaker 1: And discipline, respect, the enthusiasm.
Speaker 3: Okay, you see.
Speaker 1: That in my players, no matter how win, losers draw.
Speaker 1: You go out there and watch them play, and you're like, man,
Speaker 1: them boys played discipline.
Speaker 2: So when I when I hear that, I hear discipline.
Speaker 2: You shouldn't see personal fouls. And probably one of the
Speaker 2: lesser penalized teams is that.
Speaker 1: You shouldn't be out there shooting yourself in the foot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, because it's already hard enough to win, yes,
Speaker 1: now holding stuff like that, ye, yes, the pre stat
Speaker 1: penalties off side false stars. We should be.
Speaker 3: Able to manage that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And what does and the second pillar was respect.
Speaker 1: What does respect me, respect the game, Respect your teammates,
Speaker 1: respect the opponent, respect me, respect your professors, just the whole.
Speaker 1: It used to be love, yeah, but now it's just respect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: same thing, yep.
Speaker 3: And enthusiasm.
Speaker 1: Just get out there and have fun, you know's Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's enough dark moments in this game. Yeah, right about
Speaker 1: that that we don't need to create them ourselves.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So go out there and have fun. It's the same
Speaker 1: game you were playing when you were a little kid,
Speaker 1: the same game I played at second grade all the
Speaker 1: way up to thirty. It's just that the venue changed
Speaker 1: around it. But it was the same field. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: So never lose touch of that.
Speaker 2: And so to all the recruits out there, to all
Speaker 2: the families right that are thinking about, oh, should I
Speaker 2: should I send my baby all the way across this country?
Speaker 3: Should we go down down the street? OK?
Speaker 2: Can you tell the people why you see la and
Speaker 2: why this is going to be a great place for
Speaker 2: not only them to play football, but for them to
Speaker 2: be people.
Speaker 1: UCLA is a place where we're building men. We just
Speaker 1: make sure that we put our guys in situations to
Speaker 1: be successful on and off the field. There's more to
Speaker 1: life than ball. Like I always tell my play all
Speaker 1: the time, Jerry Rice played twenty years of football. You'll
Speaker 1: be lucky to play twenty years. Yeah, and he's gonna
Speaker 1: be a regular person way longer than he was a
Speaker 1: football player. So that life after football component aspects is
Speaker 1: huge here. That's why his books and ball. And you
Speaker 1: give me an opportunity to coach your son, I guarantee
Speaker 1: how I'll build a great man for you.
Speaker 2: And so you you have your own sons. And I've
Speaker 2: experienced this as a dad, which is I'm like, and
Speaker 2: I've talked to other former professional athletes He's like, kid,
Speaker 2: will you listen?
Speaker 1: Dude?
Speaker 2: Does the Sean Foster head coach even have to talk
Speaker 2: to his kids and be like, why are you so hardheaded?
Speaker 1: Every now and then it's still that Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: So it's a it's a it's a weird component in there.
Speaker 1: But I think now it's coming back because he's getting
Speaker 1: into high school.
Speaker 3: See that's the way my older son is like, is.
Speaker 1: Seeing the value in Yes. So now it's a little
Speaker 1: bit more listening. But yes, I was experiencing that. Yes, Yes,
Speaker 1: it's the truth. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And before we get you out of here, so we
Speaker 2: play a game called reister or wrong, and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you a statement and then you tell me,
Speaker 2: am I reister or am I wrong?
Speaker 3: You can elaborate if you want. Am I reister? Or
Speaker 3: am I wrong?
Speaker 2: The worst thing to ever happen to UCLA football was
Speaker 2: Hurricane George?
Speaker 1: Oh you reister? Was that was that ninety eight? When
Speaker 1: we went out there?
Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, that was the Miami where the game got
Speaker 2: pushed back from September to December.
Speaker 1: And oh first year of BCS, Yes, headed to the
Speaker 1: natty had to play the game.
Speaker 3: Well, didn't have.
Speaker 1: To play the game, but we thought to be BCS
Speaker 1: would yeah, because we didn't know. Yeah, because the first
Speaker 1: year we thought the BCS might knock us out. Had
Speaker 1: had to go out and play the game. We should
Speaker 1: have left earlier in that year and just played them
Speaker 1: September anyway, because the hurricane didn't hit.
Speaker 3: It didn't even hit.
Speaker 1: Yep, they didn't hit. Those people across the state, across
Speaker 1: the street played Florida State, I believe that same week
Speaker 1: somewhere in there out there, and they went and played.
Speaker 1: We should have played the game, but you know it,
Speaker 1: stuff happens, you know. We we came up short against
Speaker 1: the Hurricanes.
Speaker 2: And role See that's like me taking take a deep brother,
Speaker 2: and mine is about Miami too, because in two thousand,
Speaker 2: in the two thousand and one two thousand and two
Speaker 2: season at Oregon, we ended up playing in the Fiesta
Speaker 2: Bowl against Colorado and we were number two in.
Speaker 3: The AP and USA Today pulled and the BCS.
Speaker 2: Put Crouch after he won that when that heisman, which
Speaker 2: is another whole nother conversation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, am I brightster or am I wrong?
Speaker 2: You're conflicted about how to feel about Reggie Bush getting
Speaker 2: his heisman back because you're happy for Reggie, but something
Speaker 2: good happened to the guys across the street.
Speaker 1: I'm happy for Reggie.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm happy for Reggie.
Speaker 1: Knowledge that I'm happy for Reggie.
Speaker 2: Am I rerister or am I wrong? U c l
Speaker 2: A versus USC best uniform combination game in all of
Speaker 2: college football?
Speaker 1: Yes, that's true. It actually needs to be played on
Speaker 1: rivalry weekend. It needs to be Yes, rival the week before,
Speaker 1: but we should be playing that weekend. Yeah, because that
Speaker 1: our teams and home Yes, yes.
Speaker 2: And that's that That's why having Cal as the last
Speaker 2: game it's supposed to be.
Speaker 3: It's supposed to be USC U c l A.
Speaker 1: That was like the color Rush before the color Rush.
Speaker 3: It really was.
Speaker 1: Yes, Yes, both home games. The home teams got their
Speaker 1: home drazes on that. It was a color rush before
Speaker 1: the color rush.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And for everybody who doesn't know U c l AH
Speaker 2: top apply to university in the entire world, I mean
Speaker 2: great at sports, home of legends, innovators and everything else
Speaker 2: and am I right story or am I wrong? U
Speaker 2: c l A will be back on top and short
Speaker 2: order right. Thanks for coming on the show.
Speaker 1: Thanks, appreciate you all.
Speaker 3: Yelp