UCLA assistant Derek Sage a target for G5 offensive coordinator position, per report
A key assistant on Chip Kelly’s UCLA staff is reportedly a target for a Mountain West gig.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, one of college football’s most-connected insiders, reported on Sunday that Derek Sage, the Bruins’ tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, is a target for new Nevada head coach Ken Wilson as he looks to fill the Wolf Pack’s offensive coordinator position.
SOURCE: UCLA special teams coordinator/TE coach Derek Sage is being targeted by Nevada to become the new offensive coordinator under new head coach Ken Wilson. The 43-year Sage, a former GA at Nevada, also coached with Wilson on Mike Leach’s staff at Washington State.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 19, 2021
Sage joined the UCLA staff in February of 2018 as tight ends coach and added the title of Special Teams Coordinator prior to the 2019 season. He came to Westwood after working as the outside receivers coach at Washington State in 2017.
Under Sage’s watch, UCLA has seen pretty strong tight end play. Greg Dulcich was just 15 yards shy of the team lead for receiving yardage for the second straight season. He had 725 yards and five scores on only 42 catches (17.3 yards per) this season. Sage has coached a tight end to at least 500 yards receiving every year at UCLA.
UCLA also ranked 12th this season in FootballOutsiders‘ special teams efficiency metric, a catch-all number that combines all aspects of special teams play.