DeShaun Foster entered the Wasserman Football Center auditorium with a little extra bounce in his sneakers.
The UCLA football head coach looked at his wristwatch – the digital clock above him ticked 7:56 a.m. – and said aloud, “We’re starting early today,” before sprinting down the stairs to the podium for his press conference.
Thursday was not just the 11th spring practice for the Bruins. It was the first day of the NFL draft, and there was unmistakable enthusiasm in Foster’s voice.
“I remember this time myself,” said Foster, a Charlotte, North Carolina, native who was drafted in the second round of the 2002 draft by the Carolina Panthers after a decorated All-American career as a running back at UCLA out of Tustin High.
“You have no idea where you’re going end up going, but I was fortunate to get drafted back to a place where I was born. It was pretty cool to go through that experience.”
The coach suited up in the NFL for six seasons, highlighted by a memorable 33-yard touchdown run in Super Bowl XXXVIII, a game legendary scribe Peter King hailed as the “greatest Super Bowl of all time.”
Several Bruins hope to hear their names called during this year’s draft, including linebacker Carson Schwesinger, a Moorpark resident who starred at Oaks Christian High; defensive tackle Jay Toia, a Tonga native who won a CIF championship at Grace Brethren of Simi Valley; linebackers Oluwafemi Oladejo and Kain Medrano; and tight end Moliki Matavao.
Schwesinger is projected by experts to get drafted in the second round.
Foster said nearly all 32 NFL teams inquired about UCLA prospects before the draft.
After attending the 2024 draft in Detroit, the big cheese of Bruins football said he will not attend this year’s festivities in Wisconsin.
“We have practice,” Foster said. “It was tough last time. It was hard for me to recover, but we have 202 (people) at the house. It’s going to be hard for me to leave.”
Foster turned his attention to the 93 Bruins training during spring workouts.
“Pretty excited about this (practice),” the Bruins coach said Thursday morning. “I want to see how they respond from Tuesday. It was kind hard for them to get up after Friday Night Lights, so I’m just excited to see how they’re going to respond right now. They’ve done a pretty good job just meeting and doing the little things to improve each week.”
Foster emphasized two overarching points of emphasis this spring: “Win first down and run the ball efficiently,” he said.
Coaches have tracked the progress of defensive and offensive players fighting for starting gigs.
Centers Sam Yoon, Noah Pulealii, Caleb Walker and Oluwafunto Akinshilo worked on snaps with the six quarterbacks – including Henry Hasselbeck, who was out Tuesday for personal reasons – present during Thursday’s session. Yoon, a Pasadena native who excelled at Loyola High of Los Angeles, started the last eight games of the 2024 season at center. The honor roll student won the Ed “Coach K” Kezirian Award for earning the highest GPA among UCLA players last year.
“The O-line has been doing a good job the whole time this whole spring,” Foster said. “Running backs have been doing a good job finding holes. We were able to showcase that on Friday (Night Lights).”
High-profile transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) and his younger brother Madden (Arkansas) are expected to join the team this summer.
The Bruins plan to add a handful of more newcomers within the next few months, but Foster did not provide an exact figure to the media. “It’s a small amount,” he said.
A big part of keeping the team intact will be NIL money raised. The coach said football donations to the Bruins for Life official NIL fund will support scholarship, walk-on and developmental players. Schwesinger, for example, famously went from walk-on to All-American at UCLA, and now he’s projected to start in the NFL.
“I don’t want to lose players because they can’t afford to be on the team,” Foster said. “I don’t want that to be the reason for somebody to leave. We’re going to try to find ways to help guys and keep them around.”
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