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Column: DeShaun Foster is UCLA’s new football coach? Bruins are taking a giant gamble

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Column: DeShaun Foster is UCLA’s new football coach? Bruins are taking a giant gamble

The football drama at UCLA took a wild turn Monday when a desperate Martin Jarmond threw a Hail Mary pass through a torrential downpour.

He just hired a head coach who is not a head coach.

He just entrusted the Bruins to a guy who has never called a play, never run a practice, never commanded the sidelines, never dominated a meeting room and never bossed more than a handful of players at one time.

Welcome home, DeShaun Foster.

Now what exactly are you doing here?

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The former Bruins running back and running backs coach was hastily hired just three days after Chip Kelly’s sudden departure, the embattled Jarmond rushing to judgment by making a giant hire for one small reason.

Foster is the players’ buddy.

That’s it. That’s the rationale. That’s all of it.

The current players wanted him, and so maybe now they won’t all transfer, and that was Foster’s main selling point.

Could be a path to success. Could also be a recipe for failure.

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Some of this is about money — isn’t every UCLA athletic decision about money? — because Foster’s return will allow the Bruins to keep their coaching staff largely intact and not require serious buyout bucks.

But most of it seems to be about expediency, Foster in the right spot at the right time to make the easy move.

“We are looking for a coach with integrity, energy and passion; someone who is a great teacher, who develops young men, is a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape to help our student-athletes,” Jarmond, the athletic director, said in a news release announcing the hire. “DeShaun checks all of those boxes and then some.”

He certainly checked the boxes as a running backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders, where he had recently taken a job in that position.

But can he be a head coach? Nobody has any idea.

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Can he succeed as a CEO of a major corporation merging into a difficult new environment known as the Big Ten? Again, no clue.

Then-UCLA running backs coach DeShaun Foster stands on the sideline during a game against Washington in October 2018.

(Jordon Kelly / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It would be nice to wax about his offensive genius, maybe cite the rushing game’s success in Foster’s seven years as the running backs coach three consecutive top-20 finishes nationally, Bruins running backs selected in four straight NFL drafts.

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But this being a team run by offensive guru Kelly, it’s hard to imagine anyone else having even a remote influence on that side of the ball.

Defensively, one can wonder whether Foster ever even watched the defense and, oh yeah, that unit has lost its bright young coordinator D’Anton Lynn to USC.

Jarmond talks a lot about striving to maintain the continuity of a program that is coming off a beating of USC and a bowl win against Boise State, but the coach who called the plays is now at Ohio State, the defensive whiz is across town and the guy in charge of it all is a rookie.

Gulp. An autumn stretch of Louisiana State, Oregon and Penn State awaits.

Granted, this could be great. Seriously. There is history here. UCLA once successfully put its football program into the hands of a guy who had only been a defensive and offensive line coach, someone whose only claim to fame was that he was a former Bruins player.

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Perhaps you remember Terry Donahue?

Then again, this could be disastrous. Seriously. There is also history here. They more recently hired another guy with no head coaching experience and he was never comfortable on the sidelines and wound up having only two winning seasons in five years.

Perhaps you remember Karl Dorrell?

“I am excited to partner with [Foster] as we usher UCLA Football into an exciting new era,” Jarmond said.

It would indeed be nice if Foster could forge the beginning of an exciting Bruins era, especially considering he was involved in the destruction of a past exciting Bruins era.

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In his senior season in 2001, he was suspended for the final three games of his UCLA career for violating NCAA rules by driving an SUV owned by actor-director Eric Laneuville.

The Bruins were 6-2 and Foster was a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate at the time of the suspension. The rules were silly and have been rendered obsolete, but they were still the rules, and the team was devastated by his absence. They lost two of their last three games and Bob Toledo was fired a year later.

“Something that changed not only the course of our season, but also maybe my career,” Toledo told me once.

Foster was later selected in the second round of the NFL draft, and wound up appearing in the Super Bowl after the 2003 season with the Carolina Panthers.

During that Super Bowl week, I asked Foster about his time at UCLA. He refused to answer.

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He’ll have plenty of opportunity to brag on the Bruins beginning this week, when he’ll be charged with the sort of offseason duties that Kelly despised. He’ll have to recruit, he’ll have to solicit NIL money, he’ll have to do all the relationship things that are vital to the Bruins climbing out of their deepening hole.

Jarmond is betting Foster can sell. Jarmond bypassed several experienced coordinators with the belief Foster can sell. Jarmond is perhaps risking his UCLA career on the faith that Foster can sell.

Jarmond was suckered by Kelly, and he can’t afford to be suckered again, so, for his sake, this better work.

When Foster was introduced to the players Monday morning they swarmed him with hugs and high-fives and it was a nice moment.

Jarmond is perilously gambling that his rookie leader can produce a season worth of them.

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.

As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.

The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.

Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.

JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.

The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.

Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.

As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.

Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.

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Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.

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Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

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Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

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(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

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“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

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He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

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The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

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“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

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Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.

While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.

The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”

Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.

WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”

Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.

“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.

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