Jerry Neuheisel is reuniting with a well-known former colleague.
The beloved former UCLA coach Neuheisel is joining Northwestern as their new quarterbacks coach, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported this week. The move reunites Neuheisel with Chip Kelly, who recently signed on with Northwestern as their new offensive coordinator.
Neuheisel, 33, is the son of ex-UCLA quarterback and head coach Rick Neuheisel. The younger Neuheisel himself served as a backup QB for UCLA and once even led the Bruins to a dramatic victory over Texas back in 2014.
Then in 2018, Neuheisel returned to UCLA’s football team as a graduate assistant before slowly rising up the coaching ranks to wide receivers coach and then to tight ends coach. After UCLA fired offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri in the middle of the 2025 season, Neuheisel then took over playcalling duties for the Bruins as the interim O.C. That culminated with an incredible scene in which UCLA upset Penn State for their first win of the season, leading to a triumphant Neuheisel getting carried off the field by the team.
While many believed that the beloved Neuheisel was positioning himself to become UCLA’s new head coach, the Bruins (after winning three straight to kick off Neuheisel’s tenure as interim O.C.) ended up losing their last five games of the season. They instead decided to hire James Madison’s Bob Chesney as their new head coach, and Chesney cleaned house with the entire staff including Neuheisel in order to bring in his own hires.
Now though, Neuheisel is getting to stay in the Big Ten with Northwestern, who went 7-6 this year and defeated Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Neuheisel will once again be working with Kelly, the former UCLA head coach whom he served under from 2018-23.
