This time last year, DeShaun Foster was playing catch up after being hired as head coach less than 2 months before UCLA opened spring camp.

Practices were entirely open and the message was to show the public what he was trying to build.

After a 5-7 season and a coaching overhaul that resulted in retaining just two full-time assistants and promoting an analyst from within, the start to spring camp Tuesday was noticeably different.

It’s just hard to say how different after media viewing was cut down to just one full 10-minute period of individual work that made it tough to account for the roster’s full attendance, much less take note of any significant observations.

That’s just how Foster prefers it, particularly as the Bruins get to work learning new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s system.

The difference from last year, Foster said, is former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy had a well-known West Coast offense that anyone could pull up from his NFL days.

“I got a new offense, so I don’t really need people out there seeing it,” Foster said before practice got underway. “It’s a different situation. You know? People had seen that coordinator last year before. So, this is different.”

The Bruins will have just three open practices to the general public and media — April 5, April 18 (Friday Night Lights at Drake Stadium) and April 26 — before the May 3 spring showcase at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Sunseri, 36, was a co-offensive coordinator for the first time in his only year at Indiana before accepting the job as sole coordinator in Westwood last December.

Sunseri helped the Hoosiers qualify for the College Football Playoff behind the play of quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Sunseri was also the quarterbacks coach, and he has the same role at UCLA.

Sunseri has not yet been made available to address the media, but Foster said the message to his quarterbacks this spring is to “just play within yourself” while learning the system.

“Don’t try to win the position in one day. You know?” Foster continued. “Let’s put a good body of work together for 15 practices and that’ll show you that you’re ready to go.

“You’re going to have your ups and downs, but let’s be even-keeled. Let’s be a leader every day. Like, a quarterback can’t be on an emotional rollercoaster, so I’m just excited to see how these guys approach the game and how they do daily — with success and when not having success.”

Entering the spring as the presumed favorite to win the starting quarterback job is Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar, who threw for 6,760 yards with 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over the past two seasons.

Foster said there is a competition this spring, but he conceded that Aguilar is taking the first repetitions as the lone quarterback in the group to even attempt a pass at the collegiate level.

Foster noted Aguilar’s battle-tested experience against the likes of Clemson and North Carolina — both ranked at the time — in the last two years.

“You wanted to get a quarterback that has played, not somebody that you’re kind of guessing and figure it out if he can play at this level,” Foster said. “So, I think he’s played a lot of ball, he’s played some big-time games.”

On the eve of camp, UCLA strength and conditioning coach Corey Miller shared that the team collectively gained 546 pounds of muscle and lost 353 pounds of fat over the eight weeks of offseason winter workouts.

Foster said multiple players have transformed their bodies coming into camp.

Linebacker JonJon Vaughns is a spring participant and full-time football player for the first time after previously playing for the Bruins’ baseball team and typically not joining football practices until the fall.

“His body has changed drastically,” Foster said.

Oluwafunto Akinshilo, who transferred from Iowa State last season but missed the entire year while rehabilitating an injury, is another. Early-enrollee freshman running back Karson Cox has put on eight pounds — “his muscle has gone up, his body fat has gone down,” Foster said — in his 10 weeks since arriving in January. Running back Jalen Berger, who transferred from Michigan State last season, is a full participant after missing most of fall camp while getting acclimated and rounding into shape.

“So these players are just doing a good job of buying into the program and listening to the coaching and taking it well,” Foster said.

All 19 transfers were listed on the initial roster, as were 12 early-enrollee freshmen.

Absent from the roster and no longer with the program is linebacker Tre Edwards, a team spokesperson confirmed to Bruin Blitz. He appeared in just one game over two years and did not see action last season.

A surprise listing was running back Isaiah Carlson, who made four appearances over two years and initially decided to enter the transfer portal in December before withdrawing his name.

Off to the side, tight end Hudson Habermehl, defensive tackle Keanu Williams and offensive tackle Reuben Unije were all spotted doing strength and conditioning work as they each work their way back from injury.

Foster said defensive back Cole Martin, the son of secondary coach Demetrice Martin, is cleared to run but was not full-go as he nears a full return from a hip injury suffered while at Arizona State last season.

“Most of those injuries, they’re close to the end of it, they’re still rehabbing and we’ll see how they progress throughout the rest of spring,” Foster said.

Among the most encouraging sights was defensive tackle Gary Smith III, who participated in the individual drills open to the media.

Smith practiced with his right foot heavily taped after missing all of last season with an ankle injury.

Smith appeared in 19 games — four starts in 2022 — over his first two seasons at UCLA after transferring from Duke.