If there was a College Football Playoff for the offseason, DeShaun Foster would have his team in contention.
Name an aspect of program-building — assembling a staff, getting buy-in from players, recruiting, engaging fans, soliciting name, image and likeness dollars — and UCLA’s new coach has nailed it in his first months on the job.
Foster has rejuvenated the fan base, not to mention a roster that has mostly remained intact because of its belief in its coach. He’s courted donors in a way that his predecessor was unwilling to do. He’s aggressively pursued high school recruits in addition to transfers, who had formed the core of the team in recent years.