This post was updated Aug. 26 at 12:47 a.m.

UCLA football is getting a face-lift in 2024. The program is on the cusp of a season of sweeping changes and radical makeover. The Bruins will meet the giants of collegiate football on the gridiron, giving UCLA a golden opportunity to elevate its legacy. Sports editor Ira Gorawara and Daily Bruin contributor Matthew Niiya dissect the seismic shifts UCLA will undergo and predict how each could affect Westwood’s New Wave.

Welcome to the Fos Era

DeShaun Foster is bringing a new mantra to UCLA football.

The first-time head coach has emphasized D.R.E. – discipline, respect and enthusiasm – among his players.

Foster did not take a standard route to the helm. The former All-American served as UCLA’s running backs coach for seven years before accepting the same position with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders following the 2023 season.

But after former coach Chip Kelly bolted for Ohio State’s offensive coordinator opening, Foster was swiftly summoned back to Westwood.

Success will not be measured solely by wins and losses. Few outside of UCLA’s circle expect it to be successful in its first season in the expanded Big Ten.

Attendance at the Rose Bowl has fallen in recent years – averaging just under 48,000 fans per game last year in a venue that can hold more than 88,000.

Foster – unlike his predecessor – has devoted time to revitalize excitement for the program around Los Angeles, while simultaneously appealing to donors and alumni to increase fan support.

With success in the win-loss column far from guaranteed, Foster will gladly take as many wins off the field as he can get.

Braving a New World

Football royalty and bone-chilling winters.

These are the two talking points of schools in the Big Ten – a conference steeped in tradition.

Yet UCLA is neither a football school nor built for the cold.

The Bruins’ daring step into the Big Ten is a high-stakes gamble that could either catapult the program to an unprecedented stature or lay bare the harsh realities of Midwest football.

The Big Ten is a gauntlet, home to perennial powerhouses Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, who regularly vie for a national title.

Big Ten programs thrive on physicality, tradition and rabid fan bases – the Bruins have no room for error.

Travel will sling an unfamiliar challenge to UCLA as it leaves behind the familiar borders of the West Coast for the unforgiving demands of the Midwest.

The transition means long flights, regular time zone adaptations and unrelenting weather that will test the team on all fronts.

There’s also the question of fit. The Big Ten’s football brand is built on power, defense and ball control – qualities UCLA has struggled to master consistently. The Bruins and Foster will have to adjust, and adjust fast.

But like any tough challenge, conference realignment could be rewarding and earn UCLA greater national visibility and top-tier recruiting.

The stakes are high, but so is the potential payoff.

Full Steam Ahead

Kelly’s quarterback room sailed through uncharted territory in 2023.

After five-year starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson departed for the NFL, rough seas shook the boat. A trio of signal-callers traded the starting role – none logging more than six starts – each to varying levels of success.

But out of the storm, only one emerged – Ethan Garbers. The redshirt senior is entering 2024 as the undisputed starting signal-caller in his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Garbers completed 67.1% of his passes and tossed 11 touchdown passes to just three interceptions. His two-touchdown performance in relief earned him LA Bowl Offensive MVP honors.

But Garbers will not be asked to play hero.

UCLA’s coaching staff knows how to put him in a position to succeed from a schematic standpoint. Airing the ball downfield is not necessarily his strong suit. Accurate and timely throws that get the ball into his playmakers’ hands while avoiding turnovers is the name of his game.

Equally important to his arm is his mobility. The ability to navigate the pocket and scramble are vital to his success, especially behind a reworked offensive line.

Bieniemy’s Blueprint

Offense wasn’t exactly UCLA’s forte last season.

Kelly grappled with quarterback instability, the offensive line faltered in facilitating the run game and there was a glaring lack of playmakers able to stretch the field.

Adding to these woes, stale offensive schemes were easily cracked, while turnovers derailed drives and squandered scoring chances.

Associate head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will ensure striking differences in 2024.

While Foster – who was instrumental in UCLA leading the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game the last two seasons – will stick to a run-heavy philosophy, Bieniemy will introduce a wealth of NFL passing concepts to elevate the team’s aerial game.

A solidified field general in Garbers will limit turnovers this year. Amassing just three interceptions in 2023, Garbers steered clear of the interception issues that plagued former quarterback Dante Moore.

Bieniemy’s chief objective in the passing game will be to guide Garbers, helping him to dispatch more throws downfield.

Armed with a deep receiving corps, the Bruin arsenal could soon transform their passing game into a formidable force.

Redshirt junior wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant, senior tight end Moliki Matavao, redshirt senior wide receiver Logan Loya and sophomore wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. will headline a crew capable of creating dynamic plays.

With Foster and Bieniemy at the helm, UCLA will certainly maintain – if not improve – its ground game, leveraging the experience and explosivity of junior running back T.J. Harden and redshirt senior running back Keegan Jones.

A New Anthem

Foster sported a “WE’RE IN LA” shirt to open fall camp.

The UCLA football Nike T-shirt featured an outline of California on it, emblazoned with the coach’s mantra that has stoked the Bruin faithful in the weeks leading up to his team’s season opener.

At the 2024 Big Ten media days, Foster’s speech to introduce UCLA to a novel Big Ten crowd faltered into an internet meme. His only memorable – and coherent – line was simple: “We’re in LA.”

But the gaffe is a fitting snapshot of the 2024 Bruins.

Foster and company are on the brink of proving their mettle – and their West Coast origins – in one of collegiate football’s fiercest battlegrounds.

The rookie head honcho has revitalized UCLA’s recruiting strategy, a crucial aspect of college football that eluded the program under Kelly. Embracing the latest trends in recruiting and name, image and likeness, Foster is marketing the allure of Westwood.

The slogan might be what the Bruins need this season.

It’s a strange thought that Los Angeles is part of the Big Ten, but embrace it – it’s a buzz that should be on lips and Foster has fueled that conversation.

Assistants Assemble

After just one year, Foster’s 2024 coaching staff bears little resemblance to Kelly’s.

Passing game coordinator and safeties coach Brian Norwood is the only assistant to retain his exact titles.

Kodi Whitfield – the squad’s cornerbacks coach – kept his role, but added the responsibility of special teams coordinator after the unit’s 2023 struggles.

Jerry Neuheisel rotated over to tight ends following Jeff Faris’ hiring as the head coach of Austin Peay. The swap left the wide receivers room without a leader, but the vacancy was quickly filled by Erik Frazier – who was previously a member of the Tennessee Titans staff.

Marcus Thomas made his return to Westwood as the new running backs coach after previously serving as an offensive analyst alongside Foster. Tony Washington Jr. filled the defensive line and outside linebackers opening – a post created by the promotion of Ikaika Malloe to defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach.

Ted White was invited to the crew and tasked with finding success in the quarterback room following a tumultuous 2023 campaign that saw numerous injuries and inconsistencies. Finally, Juan Castillo joined the program as the offensive line coach with nearly three decades of NFL coaching experience.

Despite many of the hires happening as late as March, early success is paramount for assistants in the world of college football.

Defense Drop Off?

Question marks are smeared all over the Bruins’ 2024 season – conference realignment, coaching staff, personnel and so forth.

But the most glaring question hovers around the defense in what will be a landmark season.

In short, it’s a rebuilding year, and the Bruins may reel after the departure of four players to the NFL – headlined by first-rounder Laiatu Latu to the Indianapolis Colts – and former defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to USC.

Last year’s defensive line excelled in the pass rush, frequently unsettling opposing quarterbacks. Despite some lapses in pass coverage, UCLA was rock solid against the run, restricting opponents to 80.8 rushing yards per game – second-best in the nation.

Without Latu and now-Minnesota Viking Gabriel Murphy, who combined for 21 sacks and 37.5 tackles for loss, the Bruins will turn to defensive linemen redshirt junior Jacob Busic – a Navy transfer – and redshirt junior Devin Aupiu to carry the defensive torch.

Nose guard Jay Toia, a nightmare for a rushing attack and an explosive force, will be a defensive cornerstone as he eyes the 2025 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-3, 325-pound senior has the ability to clog up running lanes and occupy blockers with his size.

Foster and Malloe can find comfort in the reliability of their linebacker room, as seniors Kain Medrano and Oluwafemi Oladejo return after 56 and 54 tackles last year, respectively.

The secondary could look thin with just one returner in redshirt junior defensive back Jaylin Davies. But transfers bolster the unit, with the arrivals of redshirt senior defensive back K.J. Wallace and seventh-year Bryan Addison.

2024 will spell serious hits to the defense. But amid all the change, Bruin fans can trust that the linebackers will hold their own.