UCLA hiring former Penn State QB as position coach
Before UCLA makes the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, the Bruins are adding an assistant coach with a Big Ten and Penn State connection to the coaching staff. Billy Fessler, a former Penn State quarterback, is reportedly heading to be a QB coach for UCLA and head coach Chip Kelly, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
Fessler was a backup quarterback at Penn State in 2016 and 2017, and he appeared in just one game with two pass attempts and eight career passing yards. But he certainly made a solid enough impression on former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead in that brief time. Moorhead brought Fessler to join him on the staff at Mississippi State in 2019 as an offensive graduate assistant following his graduation from Penn State (Moorhead left his role as Penn State offensive coordinator to become the head coach at Mississippi State). Fessler went on to spend two seasons working on Ohio State’s coaching staff as a graduate assistant before reuniting with Moorhead at Akron after Moorhead was hired to be the head coach of the Zips.
Fessler spent the past two seasons with Moorhead at Akron and served as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2023. So the move from Akron to UCLA may be a step down in title, but it is still a step up in prestige being the quarterback coach for a program like UCLA compared to the offensive coordinator of a team in the MAC.
UCLA will likely be moving into 2024 with Ethan Garbers taking on the top quarterback role in the offense. Garbers backed up Dante Moore in 2023 but appeared in 10 games, and he came in to save the day with a solid showing in UCLA’s LA Bowl victory over Boise State. After Moore entered the transfer portal, the QB1 job appeared to be sitting there for Garbers for the 2024 season.
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