Tight Ends Coach, Special Teams Coordinator Derek Sage Announces Move From UCLA to Nevada
Another member of the Bruins' coaching staff is leaving Westwood.
UCLA football tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Derek Sage has officially joined the staff at Nevada as their offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, he made public Monday on Twitter. Reports of the Wolf Pack's interest in Sage initially surfaced in mid-December, and more recent reports claimed he had already been locked down by Nevada and was interviewing assistants to add to his staff there.
Sage went to high school just outside of Reno, Nevada, and after playing tight end for Sacramento Community College and CSUN, he was a graduate assistant for the Wolf Pack from 2003 to 2004.
With his move now official, Sage becomes the third UCLA coach to exit the program this offseason. Defensive line coach Johnny Nansen and outside linebackers coach Jason Kaufusi moved on to join the staff at Arizona – Nansen getting a title upgrade to defensive coordinator in the process – but the coaching carousel had yet to impact that Bruins in the other two phases prior to January.
Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Justin Frye is reportedly on his way out of town as well, as Ohio State is lining up to hire him to be their next offensive line coach. While Nansen and Kaufusi have already been replaced by Chad Kauha'aha'ha and Ikaika Molloe, respectively, there are still major holes left in Sage and Frye's places.
Sage's departure not only impacts UCLA's special teams, but also at one of the most productive position groups in the Pac-12 – their tight ends. Since Sage joined coach Chip Kelly's staff ahead of the 2018 season, the Bruins have churned out productive, NFL-caliber tight ends again and again.
In Sage's first season in the role, Caleb Wilson had 60 receptions, 965 yards and four touchdowns, which was enough to convince the Arizona Cardinals to pick him at the tail end of the 2019 NFL Draft. Devin Asiasi was up next, filling in for Wilson's production by racking up 641 yards and four touchdowns on 44 receptions before getting scooped up by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Following in the footsteps of those two future pros was Greg Dulcich, who immediately went from walk-on to All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2020 before taking a step up to First Team in 2021. Across those two seasons, Dulcich didn't miss one of the Bruins' 19 games and ended up with 1,242 yards and 10 touchdowns on 68 catches, declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft as a result of that elite production.
For as much success as he has had in turning UCLA into a tight end factory, Sage's first full-time gig was as the receivers coach at New Hampshire under Kelly, who was the team's offensive coordinator at the time.
Nevada is looking to retool its staff with Ken Wilson stepping coming on as the new head coach after leaving his co-defensive coordinator job at Oregon. Sage and Wilson coached together at Washington State in 2017, with Sage being the Cougars' receivers coach and Wilson being the linebackers coach and associate head coach.
Sage's parting gift to the Bruins is the pair of four-star tight ends he managed to haul in for the program's 2022 recruiting class – Carsen Ryan and Jack Pedersen. Both Ryan and Pederson signed their national letters of intent in December.
UCLA's lone special team commit of the 2022 recruiting class, preferred walk-on punter Chase Barry, did not sign his NLI during the early signing period. Barry told All Bruins in December that he made a connection with Sage during his recruitment process, but he cited special teams analyst Will Rodriguez as a major draw as well.
Rodriguez also does a lot of work with tight ends, making him a clear in-house successor to Sage. 247Sports' Bruin Report Online has reported that UCLA director of player personnel Ethan Young is a candidate for the job as well, and his prowess as a recruiter would help the team tremendously.
If neither of those candidates end up being part the long-term plan, the Bruins would have to go on a search to find the next coach who can lead their most reliable position group of the past few years, and possibly another to handle special teams.
The man calling the shots for that staffing decision is technically up in the air as well, since Kelly has yet to sign his extension with UCLA. That will likely be settled in the coming days with his $9 million buyout dropping to zero on Sunday.
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