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Sep 21, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster looks on during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

UCLA Opens Camp With Clear Message From Coaches

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Connor Moreno | Last updated Aug 5, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Nearly a week into UCLA's fall camp in Costa Mesa, Bruins coaches have been setting the tone on a culture shift moving forward in Westwood.

In an unprecedented look behind the scenes of the camp, head coach DeShaun Foster, offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe shared what their message was going into camp just a month away from the new season.

"The day one message was brotherhood, really," Foster said in episode one of UCLA's weekly 'Chasing Saturdays' original series. "I wanted to make sure that everybody understood why we were coming to Costa Mesa for training camp. In this new era of college football, there's a lot of turnover.

"We had 42 seniors last year and, in the first [transfer] portal, I was able to bring in 31 kids, and then another 11 in the summer. So I just wanted to find a way to have everybody gel together and come together and break bread for 16 days.

"I used to really like the way we did it in the NFL, going away for camp. Because I felt it put more emphasis on it. Like, 'OK, we're leaving and it's time to get to work.'"

Malloe emphasized fundamentals as part of his day one message for camp.

"Our foundation is our fundamentals," he said. "Our coaches are really good teachers. So we want to teach the details of and be crystal on what we expect of them in terms of fundamentals. From there, it's really the want to hustle. Coach Foster used the term 'Ball Search.' You should see people playing violently on the field, and then you should see all 11 guys on the clip after every play.

"We call it 'Drill to Skill.' There's a drill that creates a skill that we can perform on Saturdays. That's what the coaches will demand of the players. The players, from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed, I want all of them. I want everything they got in terms of concentration and focus. I want the rest to be deliberate."

Sunseri is creating a new culture within UCLA's offense. And his focus is ushering in that new culture through camp.

"The offensive identity that I want to be able to start for these guys is, I want to be able to have a sense of ownership," Sunseri said. " I want them to be able to understand that whenever they get onto the field, that they have ownership of every single thing that's going to be going on. It's not necessarily what we know on the sidelines, what they're able to apply in-game.

"So I want them to be able to have a physical mindset to be able to establish the line of scrimmage. I want them to be able to play with poise, that they don't allow themselves to get too high or low in the game. I want them to be able to be able to be smart so that we can be able to put people in certain situations to be able to formationally get them to have to be able to think and react. I want them to be able to make sure that they trust their training so that whenever we get into a game, and now all of a sudden the pressure starts to be at high. The only thing that they need to be able to do is sync that level of their training and to be able to trust everything that they've been putting into that point so that they don't have to worry about what's going on around them. They can be able to focus on what they beed to be able to do."

The Bruins will be in Costa Mesa putting in the work until the second week of August. Then, they'll return to Westwood and prep for their season opener against Utah.

This article first appeared on UCLA Bruins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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