Give new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster the benefit of the doubt

Is DeShaun Foster the right hire as UCLA’s next head football coach?

Let me consult my crystal ball. Dial up the psychic hotline. Tea leaves anyone?

The real tea: I don’t know. And neither do you.

This will be Foster’s first shot at head coaching, so there’s no telling if he’ll be as successful at this as he has been at his previous endeavors.

We do know the man who was named the 19th head coach in Bruins history on Monday morning is already a Bruins great, a member of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame – and also the California High School Football Hall of Fame, a tribute to his storied legacy at Tustin High.

We know, of course, that Foster played in the NFL for seven seasons and has coached collegiately for 11 years, 10 of them at UCLA, the past seven overseeing running backs. That, for about a week, he’d signed on to do the same job for the Raiders, before making a U-turn and accepting a promotion back at home.

And that for Foster, this job, even with all of the challenges that stand before him as UCLA prepares for a crash landing into the Big Ten Conference, is a “dream come true.”

But there are a great many unknowns.

How well will UCLA recruit on his watch? What type of play-caller can we expect a man with no coordinating experience to be – or to hire?

How much continuity will we see with his coaching staff? What can he get out of a roster that appears as though it will remain intact instead of hurtling into the portal, held in place by his commitment?

How well will the introverted Foster do as a fundraiser? How will relatively low expectations placed on a first-time head coach translate – will it decrease the pressure on him in a good way? Or will it douse the enthusiasm of would-be donors?

And ever-so-crucially: How good of a quote will he be for reporters documenting the team’s progress, day in and day out?

Really, only time – and he’s reportedly agreed to a five-year deal – will tell.

So for now, we can’t know what we don’t know, just like Foster can’t know what he doesn’t know – those losses that will serve as lessons, he hasn’t experienced those yet, not as the man in charge.

Even so, if you’re a UCLA fan, you should give Foster the benefit of the doubt.

Even if you’re down on Martin Jarmond, UCLA’s athletic director, who didn’t fire the unpopular Chip Kelly, waiting instead until he relinquished his head coaching post last week for a role as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Jarmond reportedly interviewed 11 candidates to replace Kelly, including several current head coaches, before hiring Foster, believing so much in the 44-year-old head coaching neophyte that he’s staked his reputation to his success.

Even if you’re naturally a skeptic, a pessimist, or just a realist who recognizes the potentially Sisyphean task ahead of Foster. Even if you’re fretting for him as he readies a relatively unimposing Bruins team to go charging into the teeth of the Big Ten for the first time. Find it in your heart to foster some hope to temper those expectations for the worst, and lean into that.

Foster will be hard-pressed not to improve on Kelly’s recent recruiting record. And taking stock of how current Bruins and their families are reacting to the news, I have a hunch Foster will do well, especially locally.

What might feel like a mid-February panic hire to some is resounding as a win with the people who matter most – the young men on the roster.

An unforgettable moment. ✨ @DeShaunFoster26 #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/i8opcBbGiE

— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) February 12, 2024

Did you see the video posted online by UCLA? When Jarmond makes the announcement – “We didn’t get somebody that wants to be a Bruin, we got a Bruin!” the A.D. says moments before Foster takes the floor – the team goes berserk.

Those players – many of whom all but broke the news of Kelly’s departure last week by tweeting out their desire for Foster to replace him – mobbed him like they’d won a championship.

They would have given him a Gatorade bath if there’d been an orange cooler nearby – and goals, you know? Because their reaction told me they’re going to do everything they can to make that happen.