A.J. Steward

Biography

A.J. Steward enters his second season as running backs coach for the UCLA football program in 2026. Steward, one of two returning members from the Bruins’ 2025 staff, joins head coach Bob Chesney for his first campaign. The 2025 season saw the Bruins average 139.7 rushing yards per game. UCLA utilized a four-man rotation in the backfield, with three (Jalen Berger, Jaivian Thomas, Anthony Woods) finishing with at least 275 rushing yards on the season and three (Berger, Woods, Anthony Frias II) averaging at least 4.5 yards per carry. Berger paced UCLA's running backs with 364 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 81 carries. Everyone in the backfield quartet had at least one standout performance over the course of the year, highlighted by outings from Berger (3 TDs, 107 yards of total offense in Oct. 11 win at Michigan State) and Frias (97 rushing yards, 130 yards of total offense in Oct. 18 win over Maryland) that earned UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Steward joined UCLA from his alma mater, Kansas, where he served as an offensive analyst. Steward began his coaching career in 2012 and has also spent time at Baylor (2023), Oregon State (2021, 2022), Arizona (2020), BYU (2018, 2019) and Rice (2012-17), guiding the running backs at each stop. Kansas registered a top-40 offense in 2024, averaging 420.2 total yards per game (37th nationally). The running attack proved especially potent, ranking 13th overall with a per-game rate of 211.4. All-Big 12 Honorable Mention pick De

Career Path