UCLA hero Jerry Neuheisel following Chip Kelly to Northwestern

After nearly a decade on the UCLA sidelines, Jerry Neuheisel is following a familiar face to a Big Ten rival.

The former Bruins assistant is taking the quarterbacks coach gig at Northwestern, where his former boss at UCLA, Chip Kelly, just landed offensive coordinator duties earlier this week.

Neuheisel, who played quarterback in Westwood from 2012-15, began his coaching career at UCLA in 2018 as a graduate assistant on Kelly’s staff, and when the head coach left for Ohio State in 2024, he remained at the university under DeShaun Foster.

Jerry Neuheisel played quarterback at UCLA from 2012 through 2015. In 2018, he joined Chip Kelly’s Bruins staff as a graduate assistant. In 2021, he was promoted to wide receivers coach. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

He worked as tight ends coach until Foster’s firing in 2025, and then he was given the interim offensive coordinator tag.

Days later, he was carried off the field on the shoulders of his players after a stunning upset win over Penn State.

UCLA, though, fizzled out down the stretch, finishing just 3-9.

The school went on to name James Madison’s Bob Chesney its next head coach, and Neuheisel was not retained.

Jerry Neuheisel worked on Chip Kelly’s staff from 2018 through 2023. When Kelly left, he remained at UCLA as an assistant on DeShaun Foster’s staff. Getty Images

Neuheisel’s ties to UCLA, of course, date even further back than his playing and coaching days.

His father, Rick Neuheisel, manned the Bruins’ sidelines from 2008-11.

Both Jerry Neuheisel and Kelly will work at Northwestern under David Braun, who has been the Wildcats’ head coach since 2023.