Derrick Foster | Check out the 2024 New Orleans Saints Coaches

Under Foster, RB Austin Ekeler has 44 scrimmage touchdowns in the regular season (20 in 2021, 18 in 2022 and six in 2023), ranking first in the NFL over that span and leading the league in his first two seasons. Ekeler added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the 2022 AFC Wild Card Playoffs in Jacksonville, making him the seventh player in NFL history to post back-to-back 20-touchdown seasons (regular season and postseason combined). Ekeler’s 228 receptions for 1,805 yards with 14 touchdowns led NFL running backs in receptions and receiving yards in Foster’s three seasons, while also tying for the lead in receiving touchdowns.

In 2023, despite missing three games with an ankle injury, Ekeler led the Chargers in rushing for the fourth straight season with 628 yards and ran for a club-best five touchdowns, adding 51 receptions for 436 yards (8.5 average) and a touchdown in the passing game.

Ekeler set single-season career highs in 2022 with 1,637 total yards from scrimmage, 13 rushing touchdowns, 915 rushing yards and 107 receptions. His 107 receptions led all running backs, tied for fifth overall in the NFL, and were tied for second-most by a running back in a single season in NFL history. Ekeler added five touchdown receptions, giving him 29 for his career, tied for the most by a running back with a single team in the Super Bowl era (since 1966). He also led the NFL in 2022 with 843 receiving yards. In the Week 5 win at Cleveland, Ekeler set a career-high 173 rushing yards, the fourth-best rushing performance in the NFL in 2022. Foster helped coach a Chargers offense that ranked third in net yards per game (269.6 average) and ninth in total net yards per game (359.3 average) in the NFL. Ekeler was one of six players on the team to surpass 500 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions in the same season. Los Angeles’ offense led the NFL with 112 third-down conversions and ranked second with 2,542 yards after the catch.

In 2021, Ekeler had a career year under Foster, as he tied an NFL record with 20 scrimmage touchdowns, becoming the fourth Charger to share the league lead in touchdowns in a season. His 20 scrimmage touchdowns tied the second-most by a Charger in a single season. The season also marked the second time Ekeler had eight receiving touchdowns (2019), joining Pro Football Hall of Fame RB Marshall Faulk (2000 and 2001 seasons) as the only running backs in the common draft era (since 1967) with multiple seasons of eight-plus touchdowns. Ekeler scored nine touchdowns in primetime games, tying Hall of Fame RB Emmitt Smith (1995) for the second-most touchdowns by a player in a single season in NFL history, behind only Hall of Fame WR Randy Moss with 11 in 2007 with New England. Foster’s coaching helped the offense rank fourth in the NFL in total offense (390.2 yards per game). The unit scored 181 points in the fourth quarter, the second-most in a single season in NFL history. Los Angeles ranked fifth in the league in third-down efficiency (45.2 percent) and led the NFL with 22 fourth-down conversions and seven two-point conversions.

Prior to leading the Bolts’ running backs corps, Foster spent three seasons at the University of Iowa (2018-20). Under Foster’s leadership as running backs coach/offensive recruiting coordinator in 2020, sophomore RB Tyler Goodson was named first-team All-Big Ten by conference media and coaches after rushing 143 times for 812 yards (5.3 average) with seven touchdowns in a COVID-shortened eight-game season. He was the first Hawkeyes running back since 2008 to earn all-conference honors.

Foster joins the Hawkeyes after a two-year stint at Samford University (2016-17), where he served as the running game coordinator/running backs coach, helping the Bulldogs to back-to-back FCS playoff appearances. Prior to his time in Homewood, Ala., Foster coached three seasons at Northwestern State (La.) from 2013-15. After coaching the Demons’ running backs in 2013, Foster coached the wide receivers from 2014-15, developing some of the best wideouts in program history. In 2014, eventual NFL wide receiver Ed Eagan set the program’s single-season receptions record with 73 under Foster’s tutelage. In a game against McNeese State, Eagan set a program record with 238 receiving yards on a team-high 13 receptions. Foster also tutored Bryant Mitchell, who went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in the CFL.

In the two years following his playing career, Foster entered the coaching world as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee (2012) and Valdosta State University (2011). His focus was on assisting the offensive coaching staff, particularly the running backs and special teams units.

Foster played running back and wide receiver at Southwest Baptist (Mo.). He started 41 of 44 career games as a wideout for the Bearcats and finished his career with 2,062 all-purpose yards. The Goshen, Alabama, native graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from Valdosta State in 2013.

Foster and his wife, Bianca, have two children – Cooper and Brielle.

PLAYING CAREER: Southwest Baptist, 2005-10.

COACHING CAREER: Valdosta State, 2011; Tennessee, 2012; Northwestern State (La.), 2013-15; Samford, 2016-17; Iowa, 2018-20; Los Angeles Chargers, 2021-23; New Orleans Saints, 2024-.