Known more for their success on the hardwood than the gridiron, the UCLA Bruins have a storied yet overlooked football tradition. They have appeared at the top of the AP Poll seven times, won 17 conference championships, a national title (1954), and even a Heisman Trophy (Gary Beban in 1967). They also had a non-losing record in every completed decade since the 1950s.
As the school prepares for the dawn of a new era with its move to the Big Ten, the Bruins will take that step with a new head coach: DeShaun Foster. Foster is the first UCLA alum to lead the football program since Rick Neuheisel (2008-11).
After taking over for Chip Kelly in early February, Foster put together the following staff for his first season in Westwood.
UCLA Bruins Coaching Staff
Head Coach, DeShaun Foster
Foster was hired by the Bruins in February to replace Kelly, who left UCLA to become the new offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Foster spent the previous eight seasons as the program’s running backs coach but had left after the 2023 season to become the Las Vegas Raiders running backs coach. He was quickly lured back to Westwood after Kelly’s departure to take over as the 19th head coach in UCLA football history.
Foster is in the UCLA Hall of Fame as a player. He served 10 of his 11 years as a coach in various roles at the school and played seven seasons in the NFL. His lone season coaching outside of UCLA was spent with Texas Tech as its running backs coach in 2016.
Foster is one of the most decorated running backs in UCLA history. He completed his playing career second in rushing touchdowns with 44 and third in rushing yards with 3,194. He earned second-team All-America honors in 2001 after leading the Pac-10 in rushing yards (138.6 per game) and all-purpose yards (154.8 per game).
Foster spent his NFL playing career with the Carolina Panthers (2002-07) and the San Francisco 49ers (2008). With the Panthers, he scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Foster has been a standout assistant coach at UCLA, and his running back room has consistently produced several NFL tailbacks, as a Bruins tailback has been picked in the past four NFL drafts. That list features Zach Charbonnet (2023), Brittain Brown (2022), Demetric Felton Jr. (2021), and Joshua Kelley (2020).
In addition to his role as running backs coach last season, Foster added the title of associate head coach under Kelly. In 2022, he was a nominee for the Broyles Award, presented annually to college football’s top assistant coach.
Offensive Coordinator/Associate Head Coach, Eric Bieniemy
Eric Bieniemy was named associate head coach and offensive coordinator for UCLA football in March 2024.
A two-time Super Bowl champion, Bieniemy has 23 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional levels, including 16 of the past 18 in the NFL.
Bieniemy has well-established ties to the area and this school, as he was once a Los Angeles-area prep standout and coached UCLA’s running backs from 2003-05. Maurice Jones-Drew registered one of the finest three-year stretches by a Bruins running back under Bieniemy, posting 1,007 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry in 2004.
Bieniemy most recently served as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders in 2023. Across the five previous seasons, Bienemy guided some of the most prolific offenses in league history while a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City captured the Super Bowl LVII and LIV championships and reached Super Bowl LV during Bienemy’s tenure.
Bieniemy started coaching college football at his alma mater, Colorado, in 2001. He spent two years as a running backs coach, with the Buffaloes registering a top-10 finish in rushing each year. He later returned to Boulder for two more years (2011-12) as the program’s offensive coordinator.
Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach, Ikaika Malloe
Ikaika Malloe enters his second season at UCLA as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach.
He first arrived in Westwood in December of 2021 as outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator before shifting to defensive line duties for the 2023 season.
A former standout defensive player at the University of Washington, Malloe guided his alma mater’s defensive line from 2016-20 before shifting to outside linebackers in 2021. He also served as UW’s co-defensive coordinator for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
He joined the Bruins staff with 20 years of coaching experience, including three as a defensive coordinator and six as a special teams coordinator.
In 2023, UCLA led the Pac-12 and ranked 10th in the nation in total defense (301.5 yards per game). In addition, the Bruins led the nation in opponent rushing touchdowns allowed (five) and ranked second in opponent rushing yards allowed (80.8).
Prior to his time in Washington, Malloe held defensive coaching roles at Utah State, Portland State, Yale, UTEP, and Western Illinois.
Passing Game Coordinator/Safeties Coach, Brian Norwood
Brian Norwood joined the UCLA staff in January of 2020 as assistant head coach/passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach.
Norwood came to UCLA after serving a second stint at Navy in the 2019 season as assistant coach/co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach. The Midshipmen secured a victory over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl to finish with an 11-2 record, matching the program’s record for most wins in a season.
Norwood returned to the Naval Academy from Kansas State, where he had been the Wildcats’ co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach for the 2018 season.
Prior to Kansas State, Norwood was the associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator while also coaching the safeties at Tulsa from 2015-17.
Norwood also spent time as a defensive assistant at Baylor (2008-14) and Penn State (2001-07).
He served his first stint at the Naval Academy in 1995-99 as a defensive backs coach, preceded by full-time coaching roles at the University of Arizona (1990-91) and University of Richmond (1992-94).
Offensive Line Coach, Juan Castillo
With more than 40 years of coaching experience – including nearly 30 in the NFL – Juan Castillo joined UCLA football as offensive line coach in March 2024.
Over the years, Castillo has held roles on the staffs of current NFL head coaches Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, and Andy Reid after beginning his career on the collegiate level.
Castillo’s longest NFL tenure came in Philadelphia, where the Eagles captured six NFC East titles, made five trips to the NFC Championship Game, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXIX during his 18 seasons on staff (1995-2012).
MORE: Simulate the College Football Season with CFN’s College Football Playoff Predictor
Castillo arrived in Westwood after most recently spending time with the NFL’s Washington Commanders. He joined the Commanders in 2022 as tight ends coach before continuing in that role the next year, when he coached alongside Bieniemy.
Castillo’s previous college coaching stop prior to UCLA was at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh in 2019 as an offensive analyst.
Wide Receivers Coach, Erik Frazier
Erik Frazier was named UCLA’s wide receivers coach in March 2024 after spending two seasons (2021-22) with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans as an offensive skill assistant.
Prior to making the jump to the NFL, Frazier made collegiate coaching stops at Montana State (2019-20), Western Illinois (2018), Northwestern (2017), Dayton (2016) and Delaware Valley (2014-15).
The Philadelphia native also earned NFL coaching internships with the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, and Kansas City Chiefs, where he overlapped with Bieniemy.
As a player, Frazier was a two-year standout as a wide receiver at Division II Kutztown, where he totaled 1,821 yards on 159 catches with 15 touchdowns.
Tight Ends Coach, Jerry Neuheisel
Jerry Neuheisel will transition to tight ends coach under Foster in 2024 after spending the previous three seasons as UCLA’s wide receivers coach. Neuheisel has spent 10 of the past 12 seasons in the UCLA program as a student-athlete or on the coaching staff.
Neuheisel started his coaching career at Texas A&M, where he served as an offensive quality control coach under head coach Kevin Sumlin in 2017.
A graduate of Loyola HS in Los Angeles, Neuheisel earned UCLA’s Charles Pike Memorial Award for Outstanding Scout Team Player (offense) at the conclusion of the 2012 season, his first in the program. He registered his initial game experience in 2013 as the Bruins’ backup quarterback and holder.
Neuheisel is the son of UCLA graduates, Susan and Rick, and was born at UCLA Medical Center. Rick both played (1981-83) and coached (2008-11) with the Bruins.
Running Backs Coach, Marcus Thomas
Marcus Thomas returns to the UCLA football program to assume the role of running backs coach under Foster. Thomas previously worked three years (2019-21) in Westwood, including two alongside Foster an offensive analyst.
Thomas left UCLA in 2022 to become director of player personnel at his alma mater, Navy. He was chosen in 2023 to coach the slot backs, a position in which he starred for the Midshipmen from 2010-13.
With Thomas on staff, Navy ball carriers ranked 17th nationally in rushing offense (194.6 yards per game). He joined the San Jose State staff as running backs coach under Ken Niumatalolo in January 2024.
During his initial stop with the Bruins, Thomas assisted offensive coaches off the field in basic game planning, opponent breakdown, opponent personnel, and opponent tendencies. He worked specifically with Foster and the running backs in 2020 and 2021, helping UCLA to top-20 scoring and rushing offenses both years.
Thomas graduated from the Naval Academy in 2014, where he is still the program’s all-time leader in kickoff return yardage (2,338).
Defensive Line/Outside Linebackers Coach, Tony Washington Jr.
Tony Washington Jr. was added to the UCLA football coaching staff to lead the defensive line and outside linebackers in January 2024. Washington was most recently a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Oregon, his alma mater.
A standout outside linebacker for Oregon from 2010-14, Washington started his coaching career in 2019 after spending parts of four years with the NFL’s Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.
Washington played in 51 games for the Ducks, starting the final 28 of his college career. He piled up 158 total tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and three passes defended, helping Oregon to conference championships in 2010, 2011, and 2014.
Quarterbacks Coach, Ted White
Ted White enters his first season at UCLA as the team’s quarterbacks coach.
He has 16 years of coaching experience, most recently serving as offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach for the NFL’s Houston Texans. He spent parts of six years on the rosters of NFL, NFL Europe, and CFL teams following a record-breaking career as Howard University’s quarterback.
White’s most recent college coaching role came in the Big Ten at the University of Maryland in 2021 as the team’s offensive quality control coach. He helped in the development of Terrapin quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who was awarded All-Big Ten honorable mention status after logging single-season program records for passing yards (3,860), completions (328), completion percentage (69.2%), and 300-yard passing games (seven).
White got his start in coaching when he headed up the quarterbacks and wide receivers rooms at Texas Southern from 2006-08.
Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks Coach, Kodi Whitfield
Whitfield was originally named cornerbacks coach at UCLA in January of 2023 and added the responsibilities of special teams coordinator under Foster for the 2024 season.
The 2023 campaign marked a return to the program for Whitfield, who served as a graduate assistant coach for the Bruins during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Prior to returning to UCLA, Whitfield most recently held the title of safeties coach at Sacramento State in 2022. He also assisted with special teams and player development for the Hornets, who posted an 11-0 regular-season record and reached the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs in his only year on staff.
A standout himself at Stanford from 2012-15, Whitfield played on both sides of the ball for teams that collected three Pac-12 championships.
He appeared in 27 games as a wide receiver through his first two seasons, reeling in 18 catches for 183 yards and one touchdown. Then, as a safety in 2014 and 2015, Whitfield piled up 55 total tackles across 26 games.
As a senior, Whitfield made 50 stops, including a career-high eight versus Arizona. Whitfield played in the 2013, 2014 and 2016 Rose Bowl Games as a member of the Cardinal.
College Football Network has you covered with the latest news and analysis, rankings, transfer portal information, top 10 returning players, the college football season schedule, and much more!