LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA fired football coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday after the school’s first 0-3 start since 2019.
Athletic director Martin Jarmond announced the move two days after the Bruins lost to New Mexico 35-10, their second straight loss to a Mountain West Conference opponent.
Tim Skipper will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season, which includes games against three highly ranked Big Ten Conference opponents. Skipper had been special assistant to Foster, and he served as Fresno State’s interim coach last year.
“I want to extend my sincere appreciation to DeShaun for his contributions to UCLA Football over the course of many years, first as a Hall of Fame student-athlete, then as an assistant coach and finally as head coach,” Jarmond said in a statement. “He was named to this role at a challenging time of year, on the cusp of a move to a new conference, and he embraced it, putting his heart into moving the program forward. His legacy and love for this university are firmly established.”
Foster was 5-10 since taking over the program from Chip Kelly in February 2024. The Bruins were beaten by Utah in their opener and by UNLV a week ago. They trailed at halftime in all three losses.
Foster was asked Friday if he was still the person for the job, and he replied: “Most definitely. Because I can get these boys to play.”
However, even the arrival of quarterback Nico Iamaleava via the transfer portal couldn’t save Foster. The sophomore left Tennessee after leading the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff last season.
Iamaleava defended Foster after Friday’s loss, saying: “We’re not executing as players. It all falls back on the players.”
Foster also hired Tino Sunseri from Indiana, but the Bruins’ offense ranks 127th nationally (14.3 points per game) and got outscored 30-0 in the first quarter of each of the first three losses this season. The Bruins repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties in the losses, too.
Last year, the Bruins finished 5-7 after a 1-5 start in the school’s first season in the Big Ten. He had been the program’s running backs coach from 2017-23 and added the title of associate head coach in 2023 before being promoted to the top job by Jarmond. Foster spent one season on the staff at Texas Tech.
Foster was a star running back for the Bruins during his college career, including a four-touchdown performance against rival USC in 1998, before playing seven seasons in the NFL.
“Serving as the head coach at UCLA, my beloved alma mater, has been the honor of a lifetime,” Foster said in a statement. “While I am deeply disappointed that we were unable to achieve the success that our players, fans, and university deserve, I am grateful for the opportunity to have led this program.”
The school said the terms of Foster’s contract will be honored by UCLA Athletics, exclusively using department-generated funds.
Kelly’s teams had 0-3 starts in 2018 and 2019, but the losses included Oklahoma and Cincinnati, schools with better football reputations than UNLV and New Mexico.
The Bruins are off until visiting Northwestern on Sept. 27. They host No. 2 Penn State on Oct. 4, visit No. 19 Indiana on Oct. 25 and play at No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 15.
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