Deshaun Foster is on a mission to recreate UCLA football. He wants to turn it into a winning institution, but more so a respected one. He had to move fast after being hired as head coach. The first order of business was adding an offensive coordinator who would, as Foster put it on a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, “command and really demand the kind of discipline that I want out of my players.”
UCLA Football Pillars: Discipline, Respect, Enthusiasm
Foster hired Eric Bieniemy because he believes he is just that kind of leader. One of Eisen’s first questions to Foster was about Bieniemy’s reputation as a demanding coach and how that would jive with the new era of young men that populates his roster. Foster swatted that notion away by going back to his three core principles; Discipline, Respect, and Enthusiasm.
“My pillars are a discipline, respect and enthusiasm. So I think as long as the respect aspect is there, you can discipline and talk to guys however. Just what I’ve seen him do it a little bit of time, how he befriends them. It’s not like he’s attacking them. It’s just what we are doing. For you to get to where you want to go, you gotta get coached hard.”
Eisen references a time when Bieniemy coached Adrian Peterson with the Minnesota Vikings, saying “This is a guy that once essentially MF’d Adrian Peterson while coaching him.” Eisen again expressed concern that “some kids in the 21st century just aren’t accepting of that.”
Foster pointed toward his success in retaining his current roster, “I’m pretty sure there are some kids that haven’t [like it] but we haven’t had anybody enter the portal. And, you know, I’m kind of the same way [as Bieniemy].”
Foster also pointed out the value of having an experienced NFL coach, like Eric Bieniemy as a coach.
[He’s] a real veteran coach that has real NFL knowledge and pedigree can help develop and teach these young players on how to be pros.
