Bill McGovern, who served as UCLA’s defensive coordinator for the 2022 season, has passed away.

UCLA announced that news on Tuesday and shared that McGovern had been battling cancer. He missed 5 games at the end of the 2022 season due to health issues.

 

McGovern was hired back in February of 2022. He had previously worked for a number of college football programs and NFL teams throughout his career. He had stops at Holy Cross, UMass Boston College, Pitt and Nebraska. He also worked for the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles.

He also previously overlapped with Chip Kelly. He was the outside linebackers coach for the Eagles while Kelly was head coach from 2013-15.

McGovern’s family released a statement on Tuesday. The statement says it was the “honor of Bill’s coaching career” to be the Bruins’ defensive coordinator.

“Early this morning we said goodbye to our beloved father and husband Bill after his long and difficult battle with cancer came to an end and today, we would like to thank the entire UCLA community for all of the love and support you gave to Bill and our entire family during this very difficult struggle. In particular, the McGovern family would like to thank UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly and his wife Jill as well as all of the players, coaches, trainers, and support staff of the UCLA football program and their families. It was the honor of Bill’s coaching career to be the defensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins and this past season was one of the highlights of Bill’s coaching career. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of such a historic athletic tradition and, more importantly, we could not have made it through this past year without the love and prayers of our UCLA family. The McGovern family is so grateful and thankful to all of you for your help during this difficult time and we will be indebted to you all forever. Thank you so much and we will cherish the wonderful memories we have of UCLA and our UCLA football family for the rest of our lives.”