The UCLA Bruins have filled the quarterbacks coach position with Billy Fessler. Fessler was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of Akron for the 2023 season. He will replace Ryan Gunderson, who recently took the offensive coordinator job for the Oregon Ducks.
UCLA Bruins QB Coach Is A Highly Consequential Position in 2024
Fessler lettered in football and baseball in high school before walking onto the Penn State Nittany Lions roster as a quarterback. By his junior season, he earned a role as the team’s place kick holder. After graduating in 2017, he became a graduate assistant at Slippery Rock, then Mississippi State, and finally Ohio State. In 2022, he became the quarterbacks coach for the Akron Zips.
In Fessler’s time with the Zips, he worked with the dual-threat QB, DJ Irons. Irons was off to an impressive 2022 season before being injured and replaced by Jeff Undercuffler. Irons was set to be the starter in 2023 but suffered an ACL tear, again Undercuffler took over.
The 28-year-old now joins a UCLA Bruins team with no clear answer at QB1. Ethan Garbers is the favorite for the starting role, but Chip Kelly surely has a weather eye on the transfer portal.
