BREAKING: Deshaun Foster sends strong message as the Bruins begin the season in 12 days

August 20, 2024 Michael Mills College Football 0

DeShaun Foster Shares Creative Approach to Team Bonding

UCLA football head coach DeShaun Foster has focused on fostering team unity during his inaugural fall camp with the Bruins. The players have been staying in a hotel in Woodland Hills, which allows them to bond more outside of practice sessions.

Foster has not only stressed the importance of bonding but also aims to ensure everyone on the team connects. To achieve this, he arranged for offensive and defensive players to share rooms during camp, encouraging them to interact with teammates they wouldn’t usually spend time with.

“I made one offensive player stay with a defensive player so it wasn’t just position,” Foster told reporters. “I just really wanted them to come together. They did a lot of team-bonding things, events. They went bowling, dinner … I’m just happy with the strides we are making in that direction.”

Players often spend most of their time with their respective position groups and sides of the ball, as they participate in the same meetings, drills, and practices. To encourage broader interactions, Foster arranged for players to share hotel rooms with teammates from the opposing side of the ball.

Quarterback Ethan Garbers mentioned that he roomed with linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo during camp, although they are no longer staying at the hotel. Both Garbers and Oladejo are recognized as team leaders, with Garbers stepping up significantly into a leadership role this summer.

Garbers also shared that, in addition to the activities Foster organized, they went to watch the movie Deadpool together.

The sense of camaraderie that Foster has encouraged aligns with the ‘family’-like atmosphere he aims to create within the team since taking on the role of UCLA’s head coach.

The Bruins are preparing for the regular season, which starts in just 12 days. This will be UCLA’s inaugural season in the Big Ten conference, but they’ll kick off the year with a non-conference match against Hawaii on August 31. Their first conference game will be against Indiana on September 14 at the Rose Bowl.

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