UCLA announced Saturday that it has hired Mike Johnson to be its offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel will double as the quarterbacks coach. The duo of Johnson and Neuheisel coached the same two positions with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens in 2006 and 2007. Johnson has coached in the NFL since 2000, spending the last two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Mike is a great addition to our staff,” Neuheisel said in a press release. “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.”
In the same release, Neuheisel expressed a desire to be more involved with the play calling duties on the offensive side of the ball.
“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. “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.”
Rumors that Johnson would become a part of the Bruins’ coaching staff surfaced last week, though UCLA never confirmed any of those rumors.
Meanwhile, many unknowns remain for the UCLA coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Norm Chow is still on staff and, although Neuheisel took care of the vacancy at wide receivers coach, the Bruins still don’t have a defensive coordinator. It’s been more than a month since Neuheisel fired former defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough. Chow met with UCLA recruits last weekend.
“Norm is still a member of the UCLA football staff and will be involved in helping us have a great recruiting weekend,” Neuheisel said last week.
The uncertainty appears to be tied to Chow’s contractual situation at UCLA. He signed a two-year extension last season, but Neuheisel has been non-committal about Chow’s situation since the latter part of the 2010 season when questions about offensive inefficiency began to arise. UCLA would be forced to pay Chow the entire amount left on his contract if he is fired. He receives no money if he leaves voluntarily.
Chow has been rumored to be in talks with Utah, his alma mater, to take over the offensive coordinator duties. The Utes don’t currently have a coaching vacancy and have co-offensive coordinators.
Neuheisel and Johnson will address the media later today.