DeShaun Foster talks earning UCLA head coach job, Janet Jackson Super Bowl texts, and Eric Bieniemy

start of episode how you doing DeShaun Foster head football coach at UCLA I am on NFL players second [Music] acts thanks for tuning in I'm peut Tillman and this is the NFL players second acts podcast my guy Roman Harper he got the chest out today okay what's man it's called Uh West Coast called West Coast just living the dream baby I okay thank you I appreciate it one of these days I'm going to get a little hair on it but anyways up until that point man let me give all the thanks and shout out to all of our viewers and listeners out there wherever you pick up your podcast whether it's Apple podcast iHeart Radio app thank you for always Deshaun Foster introduced tuning in give us a festar rating give us a review leave a couple comments make sure you hit that follow button tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend peanut I'm excited about this guest that we have in the studio today uh here in NFL west West Coast studios West Coast yeah yeah yeah yeah there we go shout out to them uh go ahead man greet us down his bio he was a Carolina Panther born in Charlotte North Carolina before going to the West Coast so give us a shout keep it going you you started keep it going well all right fine then I will I mean he's a you uh Hall of Famer at the UCLA Brew sir uh second round draft pick by the sir Charlotte well Carolina Panthers because it's a team of both Carolinas yeah and now current UCLA head football coach the Sean Foster welcome to the par that was all off the Dome too was hey I appreciate that was that was good well when you know somebody and you've seen somebody and observed them from a long time uh you know who this person is I played with this man on video games I've had a jersey of his um I live in Charlotte North Carolina so I know a lot about this young man not only that but I played at the University of Alabama when he came to Tuscaloosa and put that thigh out on Alabama so uh thank you thank you I actually have the stats here if you want to talk about it I I I think I know him off top oh okay okay right there it was that good of a game it was that good of a game two times it was it was two oh let can you what how was how how did you play I don't know I I I didn't watch that game I was not there I might have had 180 the first game 42 carries uh a UCLA record at the time 187 yards okay that was at UCLA so that was out here in C was number three they came in there and got smacked they did heyy hey look Alabama's just coming off SEC Championship they had just started recruiting me at the time and then they go on the road and UCLA I mean start fing them people in Alabama didn't know who Desa Foster was up until this moment is that correct I would I would agree and then all of a sudden everybody the game started off bad we threw a pick the first series no no fumble uhhuh but we got it back so we was behind the sticks and having a punt punted to Freddy millons yeah Freddy Mills that's his that pun of the game six yes sir Freddy Mill was that guy back then and then all of a sudden they continu to just do that thing 40 uh 42 carries 187 yards then my game when I came on to campus I was there I was red shirting of course so I didn't actually get to play but I was like I just want to see this guy cuz I remember him last year watching him on TV and I got to see him in real life person it was another 24 carries for 110 yards so nasty and he dropped a a serious stiff arm on my guy Reggie miles on the sideline that's when I was like w you were talking about that yesterday yeah I was I'm like d i i remember this very vividly right hand left hand I think it was a riot right right you you remember right it was two years in a row back to back yeah my God but I only remember this stuff cuz Kendall Morhead was oh mo yeah got drafted in Carolina so we was always talking about it all the time that's the only reason this is so but isn't it amazing how we always like we don't remember half the stuff but there's certain playes like oh I remember that just like like it was yesterday it was the it was a 22 toss right I my it was no it was it was my it was my right hand it was two years in a row at 187 yards I took a counter like we know all the intimate details about the play years years years later I love that about us that's awesome so uh all right well enough bragging about your career at that point we'll get back to more of it I want to know about more of Adjusting to the head coach lifestyle what you're doing currently and you are now the head coach at UCLA I love your swag you you are complet completely yourself which I love and then on top of that what has been like the biggest welcoming or like you are a head coach now like tell me about that moment have you anything been different what is like the biggest takeaway that you're like man I don't even know if I was ready for that I mean I got to this point being myself so you have to continue you know you can't take on a new person just because you're the head coach now yeah you got to continue to be yourself so that's that's the number one but um it's it's just all the off the field stuff know uh I'm changing the nutrition yeah um where we're staying at night before games just getting back to how it was when I played where we stayed stuff like that bringing just back normal routines that the Bruins used to do so all right tell me the difference between where there you guys are going to be staying versus like where you were staying so we have a hotel on campus uhhuh the stadium isn't on campus but we would stay at the hotel on campus and then bus to the stadium I'd rather stay at the hotel that's closer to the to the stadium yeah and then get up and go to the stadium in the morning without a longer Drive yeah just one less thing you got to stress about on game de yeah traffic in La could be a situation that time it's you never know even though you got to escort still but you still you never know now are you doing a ton of admin stuff versus coaching like are you still like coaching running backs are you still like is there coaching still involved or is it just you're overseeing everything I mean there's coaching still involved but I have a running back coach so you know Marcus Tom is my running back coach he was my assistant also yeah he was at San Jose I was able to bring him back but um as a head coach there a lot of admin when you get in that position it's more you know you you coach the coaches but most of the stuff you're doing a lot of admin you're really true a CEO so you're my hands are in a lot of stuff nil um hiring of strength staff nutrition yeah um academics yeah you know so it's just a lot of lot of just a lot of pieces that keep this train moving now this's one question I I want to ask you because um when I watched the when I watched the interview I was just like damn do UCLA His hot introductory press conference have AC my brother you was sweating bullets in there like you had stole something it was like the the scene from uh Minister society when you sitting when he was sitting in the in the interrogation room brother you was sweating so hard yeah and I was waiting for someone to say you know you didn't mess up don't you like how hot was it in there bro every every time you said something had it was hot it was hot I had my coat on it was just a lot going it was a lot it the room was filled with people yeah yeah it was a lot of people the room being filled with people does that do you actually look back at that and say man um not only am I the right man for this job but the amount of people in this room tells me how excited they are to see me up here with this job I saw how much the team celebrated like we all saw that that was great you got your camera crew in here now we all saw that all over all across social media but what did that tell you when you see a room full of people excited to see that DeShaun Foster is being announced as the head coach of UCLA what does that tell you just a support you know it was a donors alumni ex-teammates it was so many people just to feel that support and actually see them a lot of people came from out of town I saw teammates I hadn't even seen since last time playing them oh wow playing with them so it was just amazing that you know people got word at this press conference I got hired and they tried to find a way to get to La and support me so um this program is on the rise you know we got we got the support that we want we just got to put a good product out there on the field and you know change everything What Super Bowl champ Eric Bieniemy brings to the staff now you talked about uh being the being the head coach and you more of a admin and you're in the hiring you're in charge of hiring um Eric benemy what does a guy like that bring to UCLA why was it important for you to have him on your staff I mean being a head a first-time head coach I shouldn't have to micromanage my offensive coordinator you know what I mean yeah hiring Eric Bey I know I'm not going to have to do that that's somebody that can command the room the player is going to play for him they're going to respect him he's uh he's proven in the NFL and there's nothing more than having a guy that's played where you want to get to and also was coaching her just recently so I just thought it would resonate well with my players to be around an NFL caliber type offensive coordinator and you know they've been taking on to him great and I'm looking forward to the finishing Spring ball now you say that knowing that when you were in college do you think players all look at it well that's an offensive coordin they used should be in the NFL so that's where I'm trying to get to and that's how they want to observe it I don't know how the young athletes are as much as maybe we were how much we would take advantage of that versus like what are the guys doing now well I know for a fact the quarterback start looking at it like that okay because you're going from sign language to real verbage okay to the NFL so you might want to get past that curve get off the cards where they just showing everything that's not how you gonna be playing ball you know so um you remember that that clip of Chris Sims with John Gruden yeah and he couldn't repeat the couldn't get it exactly and John Groen was just coming at him that's the number one thing right there so my guys are getting being able to get that out while they're still in college do you get what I'm saying they're getting that experience they're they're understanding the verbiage and and able to spit the play out but you're getting that out of the way while you're in college so now you're not learning the verbiage you're really just playing once you get to the league if you have that opportunity to make it yes yeah and so I I saw in a press conference that somebody asked you if spring balls coming that uh you know Eric benem is the offensive coordinator so how much do you have to put into uh like put in your stamp on this off offense or the collaboration and I love that you confident were like well I'm I'm it's my offense it's going to be my offense yeah and he's just going to be calling it what type of confidence does it take to say that uh knowingly that everybody knows how much experience Eric beny has as a head coach as a former player as all the accolades that he has but you know like well you know what it's still my ship so I got to get it going in the right direction having the support of Eric bemy is that's somebody when I spoke to him and was like I want to see you succeed yeah so this isn't a I'm trying to get myself here he truly was I want to see you succeed and I'm going to help you get there you know when you're dealing with those type of people and you have those kind of people in your corner there is no ego trips there's no I'm the boss you're you know what I mean it's a collaborative thing we're going to work together but this is my team right the UCLA Bruins will embody what Deshawn Foster is about so that's what you will see and as a head coach how have you have How he’s sought insight from other coaches in different sports to help him grow as a coach you settled in how how are you settling into this job as the head coach of the UCLA Bruins I know you've been on the staff since well you got on the staff in 13 uh back and forth back and forth uh but 17 on you've been the running back coach and on the staff so how are you settling settling in as the head coach of UCLA Bru and how's that going for you it's going well but it's um it's something that you're learning on the run you know I'm I'm glad we're back in practice and stuff because I know this routine you know so this is more familiar territory so I'm I'm good with this but you know it's it's you're learning On The Run you're you're figuring stuff out I'm talking to other ex ex head coaches current head coaches yeah anybody that I can talk to to pick their brain I'm doing that you know because you got to be knowledgeable and you can't think that you have all the answers so I'm big on just getting information from other coaches do even depends on what sport it doesn't have to be football just you know people that have led men I just tried to reach out to them yeah and hear their different ideas on how they do certain stuff so you know just like I said you're learn on a run but it's not nothing that I'm afraid of it's not uh I'm I'm I'm made for this like I said in my press conferen you know we play football you guys know how it is yeah we don't feel the normal stress that normal people do you know um like there was a saying you only feel pressure when you're not prepared MH yeah you know so let me write that down I got to Tex tell that to my kids you only feel pressure when you're not prepared and that's one thing that I know I'm going to be prepared for yeah you said you're a buil for this do you think coaching is uh Coaching being Deshaun’s life calling your life's calling yeah cuz I thought it was playing football okay you know what I mean yeah now that being a coach and coaching running back I see it's actually helping them get to their dream it's not uh me personally making it to the NFL it was more of you know God put me here to to help them obtain there right yeah discipline what is it discipline respect and enthusiasm where enthusiasm sorry enthusiasm turn that up a little bit Yeah enthusiasm I'm sorry I I apologize discipline respect enthusiasm where does that come from so the discipline aspect of my dad was a marine yeah like you guys said earlier I was born in Charlotte we got stationed in Tustin and I ended up being raised in California but the discipline aspect comes from my pops and um you guys both know you can't make it to the NFL and play at a high level with without discipline right self discipline team discipline is just something that shows up on and off the field and you got to have that to be successful mhm um respect you got to respect the game your parents you know we're still dealing with kids so I'm still molding people yeah you know what I mean so I'm still teaching them how to do certain stuff takes a village exactly so the respect aspect that used to be love you know but if you love somebody you respect them it's the same thing so I just change it to respect and then enthusiasm is this is the same game you've been playing so don't lose that aspect of it there's gonna be dark moments you guys it's gonna be dark times let's not make this harder than what it is right now let's enjoy it have fun and and go about what your go about your business I like that I like that how long was you died in the Marine Corps uh eight years all right eight years uh my dad did 20 in the Army what's the best place you've lived see we only one just one place that's it we only moved from Charlotte to oh okay yeah I got luck now I lost a lot of teammates Ashley Le Lee was one of my teammates in high school he ended up getting station to Hawaii yeah I had a lot of I lost a lot of teammates um my high school play with Frosty Rucker oh Frosty yeah Sam Baker um Chris Chester yeah so we had a lot of people in our area but you know the base was what really brought everybody yeah I like that yeah well peanut loves to ask that how many play yeah yeah yeah you're all over I was all over I was 12 different schools 12 different 12 schools he went to ok when he came back we moved from Charlotte to Cali he got out in 88 and that was it yeah I I enjoyed the movement aspect of it it it made who I am today I loved everything about it so how how excited was everybody in your family cuz if I'm sure some of your family was still in the North Carol in the Carolinas when you finally got drafted back there oh man yeah so my parent both my parents went to Olympic M High School Olympic High School yep still there Olympic um my dad's from Clanton park over off Clanton my mom my dad my mom's side was down the street they're from D Village and uh off off Clinton Road okay but uh yeah so we were the only ones out of the state so it was almost like it was a blessing to go back home and you know get to see both my grandparents could see me play so it was a it was cool to um to go across the United States but to go somewhere that I had been familiar with yeah i' had gone to Charlotte every summer that was where you you know yeah you get sent to your grandparents house in the summer and that's that's where I'm at yeah and Charlotte looks so different now bro it's crazy way different it's so crazy way different um Running backs he uses as examples to teach his players I got one for you so when you made it to the uh when you when you started coaching running backs and you're coaching these college kids right were there any NFL running backs that you used as examples like no when you hit this hole you got to hit it like this well look when I played back in my day I used to hit it like this no you got to take that side you got to take those counter stuff you got to turn those shoulders like do you do you use other players do you use yourself as examples I use other players just cuz they need history of the game yeah you know what I mean like it's not they don't know it they're not like us it's a different era of of ball they know the current people but just the the true like deep it's it's you know they can only go so far if they not on Madden they're not going to know but they wouldn't know like a Barry Sanders or no one they I mean they they'll know Barry they'll know Barry but but that's like the elite right yeah you know but there's just like give me an example of some guys that you use that maybe they're not Elite or they would say like oh yeah you know uh like I learned a lot from Stephen Davis yeah just being a big back always have his feet in the ground like you know Jamal Lewis style but yeah you didn't nobody would know Jamal Lewis Stephen Davis ran a 10-1 yeah I didn't know that South Carolina champ he lost to 10 Montgomery in 100 you see what I'm saying stuff like so it was just like that's a dude that was 230 running that fast can we just say that that y'all was like a two-headed Beast though back in the day when y'all was y'all was playing and we played y'all a couple times and it was like it was Nast they were called thunder and lightning I just okay I just was two-head I can't say two-headed Beast like that is th light no no it's fine I'm just I just want to give you the correct definition you know I don't have to go and convert to do what you conform to what you want though I didn't it wasn't even me I didn't even make it up but it's just what it is um that playoff game I broke my ankle I I yeah I remember that I got horse caller by Hunter Hill yeah University of vanderbelt make sure he sees us and he camera I will text I will text there it is there listen Hunter all right this how I'm coaching now because of that that tackle right there just just so you know we're not allowed to do that anymore it's a fine it's a $155,000 fine so you can thank uh Troy Vincent for that it probably should have been more I I just love that it used to rock the dark visor I thought that was like off the chain the little rubber airbow pads I mean big fan just all of it uh with that being said the the swag in which you go about your business now I mean you got the Jordan polo on I know you s sponsored by you guys but the nice be on the hat like you are yourself I remember uh I saw His tenets of coaching, keeping it real, remaining authentic even in his new role as a head coach Kean Johnson talk about it with him and Skip talking about when they introduce you on the UCLA basketball game it was like no he had the chain on he looked comfortable and so you don't want to change who you are like you said these players know you all you want to do is be more of who you are to allow them to be more of who they are I assume exactly so how do you keep that going like what will we see more of Deshawn Foster as this thing continues to unfold um You probably going to have to go on our UCLA website to see okay okay put a little plug out now that's how you'll be able to see the true inside of um Desa my coaching abilities but you know you're always going to find somebody that's I just love ball yeah you know it just it's something that changed my life so you know I know it can change these kids life and I'm just trying to make sure that I'm pouring into them how to become a man how to be a man and how to be consistent daily yeah cuz that's the number one thing at this age can they be consistent daily I just try to make them do that have they been receptive to that most definitely I only had just recently I had this three people hit the portal so you know the team supportive there they they've bought in yeah with a short amount of time you know but that's just because like you said they knew who I was they knew what I stand for and you know I'm always keeping a hunting with you it might not be what you want to hear but at least you going to know this is the honest truth yeah you know is How the transactional nature of NIL has impacted college football that hard dealing with like the portal the nil deals and all that is that is that a challenge cuz obviously that wasn't a thing well it wasn't a thing when we was around that has changed a lot and it has added a lot of Dynamics to to you know college sports so nil portal God doesn't like you up I'm leaving the portal you know up I didn't no play time well W I'm I'm leaving the portal well look I'm trying to get paid so look uh how much am I getting paid and uh what's uh how much am I playing like what's how how are you dealing with that so why' you pick Bama so I picked Bama hon you want to know honestly bought m house and no you seen Blue Chips right Mama had a mama had a house his daddy had a new tractor there was a tractor in the back tra in the back all ready to go so get them sweet potatoes he ain't said no he just tried to go so I picked Alabama that's I that was really good though that was good I I picked for three reasons uh number one I had Russell Athletic in High School in Alabama was Nike so you probably get a little bit of love off of Jordan um number two the colors I had in high school were similar okay to the colors I had in high in Alabama and then the other one was I like the DB coach and that's the M of a 18y old uh and so that was why I chose Alabama my mom didn't want me to leave the state so I said okay she's like you got six schools pick one CU nobody my mom was not thinking like NFL that wasn't on my family's mind just go get an education College go to college you're going to go to college okay so that seemed relation relationship based yes because you like the def the de coach right I did well it's transactional now yeah you I'm saying yeah yeah it's not uh that's still in there yeah but it's not the end all be all it's not that's why we have the portal yeah because it's not relationship based so it's transactional when I get over this transaction then we can build a relationship and then and I don't really know if this relationship is going to work I'm just G to get out of here yeah and that's how we ended up where we are now that makes a lot more sense though it does cuz it well the fact you're like look the relationship stuff is nice it's great for us to talk about it but it's transactional now and so the fact that you already understand this you're like look this is just what it is and it doesn't seem like a lot of other coaches where they struggle with some of these things in the new era or new age of college football or college sports where it's like they're still yearning for this relationship where they're coming to me they're coming for our program and what we are as a the the Legacy and all that other stuff and you're like n what can you do for me right now and what can I get but what how do you look at this though cuz me I would be driving crazy and I'm like all right I know you're looking for what you can get out of us but it's also like dude you be like four string right now yeah but another thing that helps me is that our academic component kind of it gets filters that out a little bit oh that's yeah cuz if you want academics you're not really chasing right certain things correct you what I'm saying so I'm I'm lucky enough to be at a school where our academic component is at a certain level so that's going to make you it's going to get me certain type of kids yeah Bas yeah so I want to talk about the The importance of being a Black head coach in college football importance of being one uh a blackhead coach and just having uh a diverse uh coaching staff like I I'm I'm looking at what you got right here and this is this is impressive and um I I like I I like what you're doing and I like that you're giving these um these guys an opportunity and you're you're putting them down and you're putting them on uh why was it important for you to higher um primarily from what I can tell is a primarily a large black coaching staff I I interviewed millions of people yeah and these were the people that I felt were the most qualified to come to UCLA and teach these young men MH no matter what race color creed you know and it it just happenly ended up being how that is okay but Coach B is a great coach coach Ted white Eric Fraser these are all people I interviewed and I was just blown away after the interview I was like man they're really you know somebody that I can tell they want to teach yeah that was the number one thing cuz it's not coaching people just think you're out there just yelling at them you have to teach yeah yeah yes yes I agree we've all had we've all had that coach God Dam it son what the hell is you doing get and you looking like told me my mistake yeah yeah yeah you're looking like I don't even know I'm still waiting for the coach in help me so I can be better yeah help me yeah I'm I couldn't stand and we've all gravitated to that coach that we knew was teaching us that like yeah okay even if it was the assistant it didn't matter who it was we just saw he has knowledge and he's teaching it yes let me go over here and see and talk to him a little bit more so it just happily ended up that way you know know um these were all the guys that I felt were qualified for this job yeah and uh I'm just excited that um you know that the players are responding to them the way that they are and the community is supporting us the way that they are too also yeah you said you you you you love this game and you you were done at the age of 28 which is kind of a little young in in in the league um well it was Hunter Hill I's fult well yeah How he still misses playing football yeah it's unfortunate but you know it's it's Hunter we Sorry Hunter they they hate you I think you're a good teammate I I'm not going to call it dir but hey happens is part of the game I apologize um do you miss it yeah you always miss it you always miss it you go I mean especially Saturdays when I wake up I'm out there on the grass that's you know if I wasn't away from it I would yeah but too close yeah it's right there got too close too close you know but no I do it's um but it's it's a it's a it's a good Miss yeah you know it's just something that you've done that's the only thing I've done more only other thing I've done more than football was school right you know this is I played from second to 28 29 so it's the same that was life yeah now are you are you happy with how your career turned out um I wish the injuries wouldn't have happened but I didn't see the path at that time right you see what I'm saying yeah the injuries helped me get to this point I got you I'm thinking I'm supposed to be at another point so it was just good that I was able to get through all that figured out and now I found like my true calling do you think if you would had a longer career you would have still wanted to be a head coach or just like N I just I don't know cuz I might have got that fix out of the way understood you know what I mean yeah not not totally sure so so I I can attest to what you said about being close to the grass I was in Missouri last year we went and saw them in their opening game and you're like walking around in pre-game and you're like you naturally start looking at other players and like yeah is he ready to play yeah yeah yeah or like dude that guy would not want to see me yeah you know like these things naturally start to come out of us we can't help it and so I I totally understand like bro if I could get like three carries um I'm still like that now I it still happens um the thing Starting his coaching career at the bottom I'm very proud of you is that you went back and paid your dues as a coach you did a ga you went back and finished your degree how how far away were you uh six classes okay yeah so not much yeah so it's couple semesters you go back you finish your degree you're like no I don't need you know I don't know if you wanted to maybe you can talk about that but you went back and did all those little things oldo and laid the ground work to get yourself in position to where you are right now um do you really talk about that with your players talking about laying the ground work of the foundation being that consistent guy every day that that allowed you to be able to get the opportuni you had today or like how do you go about speaking about your journey your path to get you to where you are right now so I just didn't want to be handed anything yeah you know we were never handed anything in football so I truly wanted to work for it I just happily had to finish my degree so I that chance happened at UCLA you know but I didn't want to just come back to UCLA and hand me a job yeah I should be the running back coach no I'mma show you that I should be the running back coach yeah you know I'm G come in here I'm G work every day I'm I was 32 when I started I'm I'm in the sweat boox we call it the sweat box I'm in the sweat box with 18 19 20 you know what I mean like that's what I'm doing I'm doing the Powerpoints for stuff like I was ground level yeah right me and Jesus my camera we started together he's the head of the camera Department you know what I mean of our video and everything we up now hey what up we up you know so it was just uh I mean like I Started From The Bottom yeah and I I I try not to say that all the time but it was truly I just didn't want to be handed anything you got to work for stuff but it means more though I I also want to you I'm saying like it I think it means more then when you can tell your kids whoever it's like no I got this position but do you know how I got this position I started here I did this I went from the bottom to the top to here mid level assistant coach as a head coach now I'm a head coach I got my opportunity I wasn't the kid who was just a consultant and then someone said hey you want to be the head coach you know no one called me up one day and I that I mean that does happen it does I I'm just saying I've seen crazier things yeah um I I would also want to know this though is that do you see it cuz I have asked some of my former teammates about this whole deal the dynamic that is former players being coaches versus non former players that are coaches how they view the former players as coaches I want to know your how have you had to deal with that cuz I know it's a thing like everybody talks about it it's like they the the non the non-playing coaches look at former players just a little bit differently they do you gonna ruffle some feathers see what you're doing Ruff I just want to talk about it let let's just get this out here it's just they don't think we can teach is that what it is it's um because you could play the level you can play the game they just don't understand that yeah I can teach it we have a master's in football right yeah you have a masters in football you do I think we got doctors in football exactly we know this it's second level yeah right yeah absolutely literally that but you might have to be taught how to teach yeah but still go about it like that but a lot of guys they don't think that they actually worked hard in football because it was always fun but we knew it was hard that's what happens when they go into a new business they think that it just should be easy even though you work so hard our body of work was from second grade to you know what I mean it wasn't just that Junior season when I bowled and left it was a it was a lot it was a grind you know just to get the scholarship just to play varsity football first after freshman year you like damn I'm going out there with the big boys now yeah it's it's you know what I mean like it was forget about that the odd the numbers are way bigger yeah on Varsity yeah it was a process to get there yeah but sometimes they just think that we can't but I was going to show you so I didn't have a problem with any of that I think former players always have the advantage that we can especially the good ones they can not only teach you but I mean if push comes show I'm going get out here and show you too I will show you ex that's what you need to do it'll show you yes this is where you need to be this how your feet need to be and so I I love that hey shout out to uh Jesus man we got a camera on my man now shout out there he is get him on the get him some love there you go we up now there it is okay a said nothing he just like uh [Laughter] that's uh he's behind the scenes guy huh you could be like GMO with Jimmy Kimel dude you got to you you know what I'm saying keeping it yeah let's go I got one for you um what was your welcome to the NFL moment did you did you have one of those Deshaun’s welcome to the NFL moments get to the league and it's just like damn that's okay I'm in the league right now this is okay I'm GNA give you a couple moments okay first off Rodney P was my quarterback my freshman year I was a big baseball player too so Ronnie P was like the he was that dude to me didn't even know he was a huge baller I mean he got drafted four times EXA crazy like Rodney Pete was so when he was on my team I rookie I was like damn this Rodney Pete yeah you know what I mean that's 88 I was eight when I was look you know what I mean like yeah think about that's Rodney Pete 91 when he was with the Lions 11 like this is Rodney Pete um my first Carry in the NFL I went 67 stiffed armed Daryl green so that was a like wow an he ran across the field and RAM me down yeah yeah so he still he was still rolling still moving he was 50 and still moving had them Wheels yeah and then I'm gonna tell you a story on how I got to wear that visor yeah because I was like bro you were cold with the visor before anybody else had the dark boy you was rocking it he look scary yeah so Donovan Darius yeah playing safety we're playing Jacksonville my Super Bowl year so second year run like a stretch to the right to the boundary short side coming up D tackle right there kind of gave him a move he got on me a little bit so I spun out of it when I spun he grabbed me a little bit so I'm hopping to get out of the spin you know yeah yeah back is to the D H you know what he didow concussed everything out sleep next week I got a visor and now we're here theor now we talk about how sweet I was with my visor that was my welcome to the NFL I was like dang I knew I should and in my head I was thinking just get down but I was like in college I have did this and got yeah got out of it I can jump two or three times I got time I got time no you don't you do not have time you don't you do not have time you you don't that was the welcome yeah that's oh good so I I just I I love I The Super Bowl phone call that led to Deshaun becoming head coach mean this whole UCLA thing it's just how much pride do you take is like you know I went to Texas Tech for a year I'm sure lck was awesome even though it's in the middle of nowhere but coming back and now you're the guy for your Alma moer like does that really like man how did you just wake up the next day after the the meet or tell me how this call went too I want to know how the call went to tell you like hey you're going you're going to be the guy so I interviewed a couple times um zoom in person and then Super Bowl Sunday talk start again serious Super Bowl Sunday and then Martin called me by the end of the the Super Bowl and was like hey uh come on my house let's talk and Martin is R ad okay Martin Shan and then he once he called me and said that I was like okay this is this is serious yeah you know and um we were watching Super Ball my house I was with my wife and it was just like all right here we go I'm G be back and when I came back and went like you come with me it's like n I'm just just by myself I guess when the ad calls you do got to go yeah yeah so I I left came back and I just walked in we had a small conversation and he was like you ready to be the next head coach of UCLA I was like yep and now we're here but it was uh it was more of a process it was a long process than that but I'm not going to get it was it was you know Zoom face to face interview just painting the picture for them letting them see exactly exactly what my vision was you know and I was just glad that they were able to see it and so does it make you feel any type of way that uh I've read a couple articles about your former teammates saying that like we could totally Invision this guy being a head coach just because of the work ethic and quoting Stephen Davis he said he understands the little things about winning every day um and I I guess you guys are still really good friends and so when you hear your former teammates honor you with praise to say about no actually this guy showed all the signs we just weren't paying ATT attention all the way back when and so they're not surprised at all when they see you in this position even though some of us may be um does that give you Pride does that give you a sense of okay they did see my work ethic even though I may not have always shown it or being in front the camera but what I what I did on a day-to-day basis uh kind of showed everybody who I am as a person I wasn't even aware big dog said that but yes I appreciate that I'll send you the article yeah he um cuz that's coming from somebody that taught me the game like my game elevated watching him play seeing how he watched film just you know just going about being a pro like my game elevated with him cuz he came the second year um but that's just good cuz you never know if people saw what was going on how you working you know what I mean you just put your head down and work so it didn't matter even if you weren't getting the praise you're still G to work because that's just what you know but I'm glad that I was able you know that my they can see that it wasn't uh it wasn't the opposite like oh hell no how you get job you know what I have seen that before though like man hell no how you the hate always going to come out at some point for some people defitely that's that's how it's going to be so Super Bowl 38 that was I Getting text messages about Janet Jackson during Super Bowl 38 think that was 03 that was my rookie that was my rookie year what's your biggest memory from from that Super Ball everybody texted me about Janet Jackson but I played the game what a call what a call what a call I forgot about that I forgot yeah every shout out to JT shout out to JT shout out oh oh you he put the camera down I can't shout him out for that he put the camera down but yeah that was a uh that's what you that was it that be wow what that's it nothing about the game half side okay I mean it looks set up I forgot yeah I thought it was set up too person I was like they just publicity oh it wasn't okay ah man okay felt that way I wasn't expecting that one that one completely caught me off guard good job Thomas yeah there you go he knew that that's why he was hoping he was hoping for it hey please say halftime show please say halftime show yes got him oh my gosh so we got to go back cuz this is uh the How he rushed for 3,998 yards in high school most amazing stat about you that uh unless you know you you you really don't know and that is that you almost rush for 4,000 yards in high school oh yeah uh 3,998 number one why did they not push you forward for two more yards to get 4k yes uh 50 something touchdowns which I guess you recruited a running back that actually broke your record is that crazy that is crazy um how is that young man doing so he's playing for the Redskins now okay okay the commanders yes it's all fine you good yeah no worries you good some some actually native groups in that area actually want them to go back because they they said that was a big chief of theirs that the the but anyways yes so he's playing for the commanders still fast he was a 102 100 meter Runner one state California but he scored 74 touchdowns senior year who was he playing one season one year one year did anybody else score a touchdown for this team apparently not like 70 something touch step in 14 games all games yeah that's I mean that's ridiculous impressive yeah very impressive um C Allen that's his name Casmir Allen Casmir Allen and so I got to know when you're on this run of like almost 4,000 yards what is a what was a normal game for you and then what was like oh this was my my highlight game okay so I got lucky CU all of my teammates all the other running backs were a year ahead of me okay so my junior year we had three running backs over a th oh so y'all just toen the rock yeah we going to run that rock now and we had another dude with 800 so we run in the Rock yes ouch yeah they all graduated okay so it's just all you that's it it wasn't we didn't change the offense nothing I'm just getting everybody else's carries now that's the thing okay everybody else graduated went to college and I was I was the youngest one of the our whole crew quarterback must have been trash he came through we just running the ball we going to run the ro oh he's he's pitching it and leading blocking pitch that and Lead block man go in he was a catcher too so you know he's a tough dude I got you I got you so uh here's a question we like to ask everybody who is on your personal Deshaun’s personal Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore of your success on the field off the field where you are today right now um and it's four if you don't know so I'mma go both my parents my wife charity cuz I just got married too so oh I saw the pictures yeah congrats my wife follows your way just with all the favor I've gotten since that's happened yeah it's been Hall of Fame my daughter the head coach the Raider job before that then the head coach you know just all of that and then I think I'm up there is probably my high school coach yeah just because he was somebody that um you know like pops already was preaching the discipline aspect you know but just to get it from somebody else too yeah not that yeah that's how you know cuz that could get repetitive like man I know he would stay on us you know we had uh I think my last year in the NFL 08 we had the most guys in the NFL six guys yeah oh your high school did yeah my high school did yeah so my Miller that was my high school coach so I'll put him up there I like that what else you got I mean I'm just so impressed by this young man I I just heard U Thomas in my ear trying to talk something but I'm not listening to Thomas so neither yeah you know I want to talk about one thing because I was just in the rosebowl how do you love like the rosebowl has all this lore all this like you know the rose bow the granddaddy of them all beautiful Stadium beautiful backdrop but man I know you don't have to deal with this but go into the restroom in the road now I went to the I went to the Michigan Alabama game so okay and I was in the stands so you understand the struggle yes the line just it was a lot I don't know this problem because I I don't never had those it is the whole situation that this roseb dude and then trying to get out of there it was yeah you don't have a you need security okay you need security seriously I've never been maybe when y'all go this year I'm coming you coming to a game I'm coming I'm coming to a game we coming to coach I'mma teach what camera four camera three I'm teaching y'all the peanut punch y'all gonna have all kind all types of turnovers and takeaways defense that's what they about now we should just get we should have did this from the school we should have did this right from our little patio overlooking the field I would have loved that then I want I would I would give like I want recruiting pitches I want to walk around the facility CU I've never seen UCLA I'm from Alabama so like I don't know come on down all right check us out yeah okay I just H at DBS that's DBS safeties I'mma holl at y'all most definitely teach y'all to take takeway punches I got a I got a doctorates in it how does that feel to Peanut thoughts of the “Peanut Punch” being in the cultural lexicon actually have something that is being taught like with your name connected to it it's humbling um it's it feels good uh but it's it's humbling the like you said earlier the hard work like I didn't just wake up and like all right I'm just I'm just doing this down no like it was it was a process it graduated and I graduated to what it is today a coach put it in my ear and then I was like okay and then I did it one way and when I got to the league I had to adapt and do it a different way because what I was doing in college wouldn't work in the league so I had to master my craft and just watching film and doing it over and over I got my 10,000 reps and I became a a master at this specific move and I like that high school college NFL they teach it so I'm just like yeah I left I left my mark yeah so I'm proud of that that's amazing and I gotta be honest say you left your mark on football yes not the NFL football like you said all levels are doing that yeah like that's amazing thank you yeah that's truly amazing I appreciate that I appreciate that all right man we get us out of here P now you got it yeah yeah I got it uh deshaan hey we appreciate you boss this was this was this was awesome thank you for blessing us thank y'all for listening tuning in like share subscribe follow give us a five star rating um Apple podcast ihart Radio app y'all follow us spread the love spread some love tell a friend and tell a friend and tell a what friend hey I'm peanut Rome Desa nfo player second X podcast we out thank you y [Music] [Music]