DeShaun Foster fired as UCLA football coach three games into season

DeShaun Foster already is out at UCLA.

The Bruins fired their second-year football coach following an 0-3 start in which they were outscored 108-43, including a blowout loss at home Friday against New Mexico, the school announced Sunday.

A former running back at the school who played six NFL seasons with the Panthers and the 49ers, the 45-year-old Foster finished 5-10 over two seasons at his alma mater.

He previously had served for six seasons as the team’s running backs coach under head coaches Jim L. Mora and Chip Kelly before he was promoted to replace the latter after Kelly resigned in 2024.

“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,” athletic director Martin Jarmond said. “He was named to this role at a challenging time of year, on the cusp of a move to a new conference [the Big Ten], and he embraced it, putting his heart into moving the program forward.

“His legacy and love for this university are firmly established. He is a Bruin for life.”

Special assistant Tim Skipper will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, but the school’s release stated “a comprehensive national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.”

“Serving as the head coach at UCLA, my beloved alma mater, has been the honor of a lifetime,” Foster said in a statement released by the school. “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.”

“While this chapter ends differently than I had envisioned, UCLA Football has a bright future ahead. This program, with its rich tradition and outstanding resources, will return to prominence. Once a Bruin, always a Bruin.”