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Ohio State reportedly hiring former UCLA, Akron QBs coach Billy Fessler as analyst

IMG_7408by: Andy Backstrom06/16/24andybackstrom
Billy Fessler by Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Billy Fessler coaches the Akron quarterbacks ahead of the 2023 season. (Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State is hiring former UCLA and Akron quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler as an analyst, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who reported Sunday that Fessler will work with the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks.

While still head coach at UCLA, now-Ohio State offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and play-caller Chip Kelly brought Fessler aboard as the Bruins’ QBs coach.

Fessler, a reserve quarterback at Penn State from 2014-17, joined Kelly’s UCLA staff in January. But after Kelly left for the Ohio State OC job in February — and the Bruins promoted running backs coach DeShaun Foster to head coach — Fessler’s role changed, according to Thamel’s report.

Fessler’s move to Ohio State is actually a return. The former Penn State quarterback worked as a Buckeyes graduate assistant during the 2020-21 seasons. Before that, he served as a GA at Mississippi State in 2019 and at Division II Slippery Rock in 2018.

Each of the last two seasons, though, Fessler has coached at Akron. He joined the Zips as quarterbacks coach in 2022 and then earned a promotion to offensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 campaign. Unfortunately for Fessler, head coach Joe Moorhead and Co., Akron put forth another 2-10 season last year and once again ranked in the bottom 25 in scoring offense. It’s worth noting, though, that three different Zips signal callers threw at least three touchdown passes, including starter DJ Irons, who missed the final two months of the regular season with a torn ACL.

The year prior, Fessler notably helped Irons earn third-team All-MAC honors. The dual-threat Irons threw for 2,606 yards with a 10:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2022. In the process, he completed 66.8% of his passes, in addition to netting 314 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

Fessler’s playing career ended at Penn State, where he completed just one career pass in four seasons with the Nittany Lions. During his fourth and final season, however, he appeared in all 13 games, serving as the team’s primary holder.

This offseason, Ohio State didn’t retain quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis, who led the room from 2020-23 and is now the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Tulsa.

Plus, after three seasons with the Buckeyes, analyst Todd Fitch left this offseason to join Brian Kelly’s offensive staff at LSU. Fitch is a senior offensive analyst for quarterbacks with the Tigers, who just produced Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels. Fitch helped former Ohio State star signal caller C.J. Stroud become a back-to-back Heisman finalist at Ohio State.

The latest change to the Ohio State quarterback room is an addition, and it appears to be authored by Kelly, as the Buckeyes are reportedly bringing Fessler — who Kelly originally hired at UCLA — back to Columbus, this time as an analyst.

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