and hugs.

Foster doesn’t have experience as a coordinator but he has been responsible for helping churn out NFL-quality running backs.

Foster was promoted to associate head football coach ahead of the 2023 season but will take the helm after Kelly resigned from the position to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The former All-American started his coaching career in 2012 as a student assistant before he was promoted to graduate assistant in 2014 and the director of player development and high school relations in 2015. Foster spent the 2016 season on Kliff Kingsbury’s staff at Texas Tech, where he had his first opportunity as a running backs coach.

He returned to Westwood in 2017 as the running backs coach under former coach Jim Mora.

“Great hire!,” Mora posted on X. “(Foster) is a wonderful human being, great coach, a true mentor and a loyal Bruin.”

Starting running back T.J. Harden was among the current players on the roster who had posted on social media that they wanted Foster as UCLA’s next head coach after Kelly met with the team last week. UCLA also sees Foster as more of a modern CEO coach, who can identify and develop players.

“Throughout our comprehensive search, DeShaun resonated with us from the start,” Jarmond said in a statement, “as we are looking for a coach with integrity, energy and passion; someone who is a great teacher, who develops young men, is a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape to help our student-athletes. DeShaun checks all of those boxes and then some. He is a leader of men and a true Bruin. We are excited for the future of this program with DeShaun Foster at the helm!”

The players told Jarmond that they wanted someone who would relate to them as both players and young men on and off the field.

Foster starred at Tustin High before coming to UCLA and playing for four years (1998-2001). He was chosen to the hall of fame at each school.

As a Bruins tailback, he ran for 44 touchdowns and 3,194 yards and earned second-team All-America honors in 2001. Foster was the Bruins’ running back the last time they won the Pac-12 title and went to the Rose Bowl in 1998. He is currently fifth in career rushing yards, ninth in scoring (266 points) and tied for 10th in all-time touchdowns with quarterback Troy Aikman on UCLA’s all-time lists.

Foster was selected in the second round of the 2002 draft by Carolina and spent six seasons in the NFL with the Panthers (2003-07) and San Francisco 49ers (2008), compiling 3,570 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing.

In 2022, he was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and the inaugural class for the California High School Football Hall of Fame that’s on display at the Rose Bowl. He was also a Broyles Award nominee, which is presented to college football’s top assistant coach.

UCLA’s running game was one of the strengths during Kelly’s six seasons in charge. The Bruins led the Pac-12 in rushing the past two years and have been in the top 20 nationally for three straight seasons.

Foster coached running backs that were selected in the NFL draft four straight years — Zach Charbonnet (Seattle, 2023), Brittain Brown (Las Vegas, 2022), Demetric Felton (Cleveland, 2021) and Joshua Kelley (Chargers, 2020).

“Just being a running back myself and being at my alma mater, I set a higher standard that I try to put on the guys,” Foster told the Southern California News Group in 2022. “They do a great job responding to it and listening.”

Foster’s return comes two months before the Bruins begin spring practice as they prepare to join the Big Ten Conference. It could also help mitigate a large exodus of the roster since players have a 30-day period to enter the transfer portal after a coaching change.

Foster will now have to hold the program as a whole to a higher standard and must begin building relationships with donors as the college football landscape continues to change with the addition of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in recent years.

The decision to hire Foster might also keep a majority of the current coaching staff intact but it will leave Foster with decisions to make to help fill out the remaining spots on the offensive side of the ball that are currently vacant.

The Bruins do not have an offensive coordinator, running backs coach or tight ends coach. Ikaika Malloe was hired as defensive coordinator earlier in early January while Kodi Whitfield was promoted to special teams coordinator last week.

With recruiting, Foster serves as a familiar face on the Southern California high school scene but he must provide a different approach.

The Bruins have struggled to recruit at the high school level throughout Kelly’s tenure. UCLA is currently 88th in the nation and last among the 18 teams in the Big Ten in the recruiting rankings by 247sports.

Kelly had a 35-34 record with the Bruins, but the program was showing signs of stagnating ahead of its move to the Big Ten.

UCLA was expected to contend for a Pac-12 title last season but went 8-5, including losses in three of its last four regular-season games.

Home game attendance also dropped significantly during Kelly’s tenure, including a record low of 27,143 fans for the 2022 season opener against Bowling Green. That number was well below the previous mark of 32,513 set in 1992.

UCLA finished the 2019 season with an average attendance of 43,848, its lowest at the Rose Bowl since moving to the venue in 1982. The Rose Bowl’s seating configuration for home games can hold 80,616 for general admission games.

From 2009 to 2018, the highest attendance averages were 76,650 in 2014 (six home games) and 70,285 in 2013 (six home games).

Jarmond decided to not make a coaching change at the end of last season, but Kelly expressed interest in NFL offensive coordinator jobs as well as the opening at Boston College before heading to Ohio State. Kelly also talked to Oregon about a possible return two years ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this story