UCLA’s DeShaun Foster ‘excited’ about early progress on offense

LOS ANGELES — After the first few months of DeShaun Foster’s tenure as head coach were spent learning and taking care of his off-the-field responsibilities, the UCLA football team was out on the field for its first public spring practice on Tuesday.

The first-year coach is “excited” with what he has seen early on from the offense, that features several returning playmakers working with a new coaching staff.

Foster didn’t want to overload his players early with the new playbook, under offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, but they’re already “trending in the right direction” with how quickly they’re absorbing information coming back from spring break.

“Everyone is super excited in the building,” receiver Logan Loya said. “It’s a brand new offense and everyone is starting from the ground up. It’s just the basics right now.”

Bienemy was a notable figure at practice with how vocal he was during team drills.

“I just love his energy” Foster said of Bienemy. “My first pillar is discipline, and you’re going to hear that out here. I’m excited about that. He’s getting the guys going, holding them to a standard that they want to be held to. And I think that’s going to help us get to where we want to go.”

Bienemy was even heard asking for running back T.J. Harden to show more effort.

Harden had 156 carries for 827 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.

Harden is expected to share the workload out of the back field along with Keegan Jones, who returned to the program for a sixth year.

Jones entered the transfer portal in January and committed to UConn, which is led by former UCLA head coach Jim Mora, before deciding to return to Westwood.

Foster mentioned that it was his priority to have Jones come back and put an emphasis on playing at running back after being moved over to receiver last year by Chip Kelly.

“That was huge,” Foster said. “Before I left for the Raiders, that was my number one goal – make sure I get Keegan back as a running back in this offense. His explosive plays to touches is unmatched, so it’s just somebody that, you know, we can use in this offense.”

Jones was seen getting reps with the first team offense led by quarterback Ethan Garbers.

Garbers is expected to start at quarterback but Foster wants the offseason to play out before officially naming starters at various positions.

“He’s taking the first reps right now, but it’s still open,” Foster said. “All positions are open right now. We want to have everybody work to a common goal and try to put your best foot forward and then we’ll get into the depth.”

INJURY REPORT

Quarterback Collin Schlee is among the quarterbacks who will compete for the starting role.

Schlee was unavailable and not seen at practice but Foster stated that Schlee could return later in the week.

Schlee was last seen playing out the first half of the LA Bowl in Decemeber before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.

Running back DeShun Murrell was officially ruled out for spring camp as he recovers from a second ACL tear. Foster wouldn’t completely rule Murrell out for the season saying “he’s running in a straight line, and his body looks good. We’re kind of just taking it slow for him, coming off his second, back-to-back, just to make sure that he can get back.”

Offensive lineman Benjamin Roy Jr. did not practice due to a back injury but was spotted off to the side participating in an individual conditioning workout.