DeShaun Foster, who played in the NFL and knows that league's many fan-friendly initiatives such as practices open to the public and players keeping media obligations, is turning things in an opposite direction for his second year atop UCLA.
Foster this week defended curtailing media access as well as denying players the chance to speak with area reporters.
The Bruins are hopeful of a major turnaround under Foster in Year 2, having brought in talented Tennessee transfer-quarterback Nico Iamaleava
Foster even took a bit of an adversarial approach to the oh-so-pointed (easy) question of what type of work he planned for his Bruins to get Saturday inside the Rose Bowl.
"Uh, it will be a practice," said Foster, who regaled audiences last year at Big Ten Media Days when he informed the masses that "I'm sure you don't know too much about our football program, but we're in L.A."
This Saturday's practice is the day, mind you, that UCLA is charging fans $100 apiece to view the session and then mingle some with coaches and players on the field upon its conclusion.
Foster said he's shutting down almost all access to his program, including barring players from media interviews, as a tactical approach.
"You guys film our practice and put it online," Foster told reporters. "If I was an opponent for another team, I'd look right at your guys' stuff and see what's going on. So, for them not to get a beat on Tino (Sunseri, first-year offensive coordinator) or our depth or anything that's going on. That's why it's closed."
And no player interviews?
"That's the same thing, if they come over here and interview then you guys are asking me if they're a starter or are they this or that," Foster said. "It's tough, but we want to win games."
Foster said he's not worried about any negative impact on his team receiving less media coverage because of Foster's policies.
"No, I'll let you guys handle all that," he said.
UCLA, which finished 5-7 a year ago in Foster's debut campaign as a coach and dropped five of those games by 12 or more points, opens its 2025 season with a major challenge inside the Rose Bowl Aug. 30 against Utah, a former Pac-12 Conference rival. The Bruins, in their second year in the Big Ten, have additional non-conference games at UNLV, now under the direction of Dan Mullen, and home against New Mexico.
The Bruins begin conference play with a road-trip to Northwestern. They also face three of the Big Ten's four College Football Playoff participants from a year ago -- hosting Penn State, traveling to Indiana and traveling to defending CFP champion Ohio State. They also close their season at cross-town rival USC.