Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury named DeShaun Foster the Red Raiders' new running backs coach on March 2nd. Foster, a former All-Pac 10 running back at UCLA and a six year NFL veteran, brings a lot of experience to the running backs position group for the Red Raiders.
Most Texas Tech fans are very familiar with the concept of an "Air-Raid" offense by now - pass, pass, pass. However, under Kliff Kingsbury's version of the Air-Raid offense, the Red Raiders have put much more of an emphasis on the running game.
From his playing days at UCLA to his playing days in the NFL, Foster has drawn influences from all of his coaches along the way.
"Kelly Skipper was my college position coach at UCLA," Foster said. "His father, Jim Skipper, was my coach with the Carolina Panthers. I have learned most everything I know about coaching running backs from them, plus Kennedy Polamalu - who I worked under at UCLA for the past few years."
While the UCLA offense isn't exactly considered an Air-Raid attack, they do run a spread concept out of the shotgun set and incorporate the zone-read.
After completing his NFL career in the 2008 season, Foster took some time off and eventually found himself back at UCLA to complete his undergraduate degree. He spent the 2013 season working as a volunteer assistant, then he joined the program as a graduate assistant for the 2014 season.
UCLA head coach Jim Mora named Foster the Director of Player Development & High School Relations for the Bruins going into the 2015 season - a position identical to the role Coach Emmett Jones performed for Texas Tech this past season.
During those three seasons, Foster worked very closely with UCLA running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu and the Bruins' feature back Paul Perkins.
"I worked with Paul (Perkins) a lot, ever since his freshman year," Foster said. "He is a great kid and takes coaching very well. I'm excited to see what he can do at the professional level, Paul is an all-around pro."
In three seasons, Perkins rushed for 3,488 yards and 29 touchdowns. Earlier this spring, Perkins was drafted in the 5th round by the New York Giants, only six spots behind former Texas Tech running back Deandre Washington.
Foster started at Texas Tech right before the NFL Draft was getting underway this spring, and the new Red Raiders assistant used his background to help promote himself as a new coach and provide some exposure to the lineage of Texas Tech backs drafted into the NFL.
The conversation on this website always surrounds recruiting, and when it comes to the running backs position for this 2017 recruiting class, the Texas Tech coaches may or may not take a running back this year.
However, Coach Foster is already very familiar with the state of Texas when it comes to recruiting. In fact, he helped UCLA to land two of the state's top backs in both the 2015 and 2016 classes - his first couple of seasons to recruit for the Bruins.
Jamabo and Stephens are both bigger running backs, and this could be the type of running back Foster begins to target for the Red Raiders. Both players held dozens of scholarship offers from Power 5 programs, both players made a name for themselves playing 6A high school football in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and both players were big lands for the UCLA coaching staff.
Foster's familiarity with the Dallas-Fort Worth area recruiting landscape is invaluable for the Red Raiders, as the majority of the Texas Tech football roster is comprised of players from the area.
Whether the Texas Tech coaches pursue a 2017 running back prospect or not, here are two of the existing 2017 and 2018 targets with an offer from the Red Raiders.
Time will tell when it comes to who the Red Raiders might recruit for the running back position, but most Texas Tech fans are curious to see what happens in the backfield with Deandre Washington graduating and moving onto the NFL.
Justin Stockton is the presumed starter, then there are several backs with very little to no carries at the college level behind him.
Again, Stockton is a safe bet to become the every down back, but anything goes when a new coach arrives. Felton and Dauphine have both reportedly looked good this off-season and should factor into the rotation at running back this fall.
Maybe the most interesting player to watch at running back is incoming freshman Da'Leon Ward, who could factor into this rotation as a true freshman. He is physically ready to play, and is a combination of the smaller all-purpose back and the bigger framed back Foster seems to prefer.
Last season, Washington and Stockton combined for 1,859 yards and 19 touchdowns rushing. Going into this next season, Foster is looking for Stockton plus Felton/Dauphine/Ward to help replace the nearly 1,500 rushing yards from Washington this past year.
