Saturday afternoon, Norm Chow was officially stripped of his title as UCLA’s offensive coordinator. Just what that means for the long-time assistant’s future remains to be seen.
Confirming reports from earlier in the week, the Bruins announced via press release that Mike Johnson has been hired as Rick Neuheisel‘s offensive coordinator. In addition to his coordinating duties, Johnson will coach wide receivers.
Neuheisel also announced that he will become the Bruins’ quarterbacks coach.
“During my assessment of our program, I felt it was necessary for me to be more involved in the day-to-day operation of the offense,” Neuheisel said in a statement. “I decided that going forward, I will coach the quarterbacks and will be more hands-on in the area of play calling with a new coordinator.
“Mike is a great addition to our staff. He has a background with a multitude of offensive schemes, has coached several different positions and has experience in our conference as well as in the National Football League. Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and adds versatility to our offense and I can’t wait to get in the film room and start planning for 2011 and the Pac-12.
“In addition, Mike is a dynamic and tireless recruiter who is familiar with the Pac-12 area and, in particular, southern California. He will be a great plus for our program in this important area.”
Johnson spent 2010 as offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. Neuheisel and Johnson worked together with the Baltimore Ravens in 2006 and 2007, so its apparent that prior relationship led to a level of comfort that wasn’t there with his current offensive chief.
And what of Chow? There was no mention of his status in the release, but, having the coordinator title yanked away, it would appear Chow is not long for UCLA.
There have been discussions with Utah in the last week or so about Chow taking over the coordinator’s role with the Utes; this official move on the part of the Bruins could expedite those talks, and could/should very well lead to his hiring in the coming days.