Former Penn State QB a coach on the rise, joins Chip Kelly’s UCLA staff

Some Penn State fans might not recognize the name Billy Fessler. But the former Nittany Lion quarterback is a coach on the rise — and he’s re-joining the Big Ten.

Fessler, a reserve quarterback at Penn State from 2014-18, is now the new quarterbacks coach at UCLA, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

Fessler is joining Chip Kelly’s coaching staff ahead of the Bruins’ move to the Big Ten. UCLA is scheduled to visit Penn State on Oct. 5 — a homecoming of sorts for Fessler.

Fessler has spent the last two seasons at Akron, working under head coach and former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. Fessler was the Zips’ quarterbacks coach in 2022 and was promoted to offensive coordinator and QBs coach for the 2023 season.

Fessler was a graduate assistant on Moorhead’s staff at Mississippi State in 2019. He joined Ohio State’s staff as a GA for the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

This is a big step for Fessler, a former walk-on quarterback at Penn State. The 28-year-old is an up-and-comer in the coaching industry after making the most of his time in Happy Valley.

Fessler shared a quarterback room with Trace McSorley, Tommy Stevens and Sean Clifford in 2017. Playing time was always going to be difficult to attain. But Moorhead spoke highly of Fessler, describing his value to Penn State’s quarterback room as “immeasurable.”

“In the position meetings, Billy would take notes like he was the starter,” Moorhead told PennLive ahead of the 2023 season. “… And not to diminish his play, but his competitiveness, his attention to detail and his ability to communicate with the position group and the team, you know, he had a lot of talent and a lot of leadership capabilities.”

Fessler has taken those leadership qualities and applied them to the coaching ranks. And Moorhead believes only big things are in Fessler’s future.

“He’ll become a play-calling coordinator here in a very short time,” Moorhead said in August. “And I would suspect within 10 years, he’ll be a head coach somewhere.”