Derek Carr isn't chasing a starting job anymore, but he's not done with football either. UCLA announced Monday that the former Raiders and Saints quarterback has joined Bob Chesney's staff as a special advisor, and the timing lines up with a guy who clearly still has a lot to give the game.
Carr's role is exactly what it sounds like: he'll help Chesney and the offensive staff with game-planning while working directly with UCLA's quarterbacks. That's a real job for a guy who spent 11 NFL seasons running an offense at the highest level and finished 22nd all-time in passing yards with 41,245, per ABC30. Four Pro Bowls, primarily with the Raiders, before a stint with the Saints.
Carr retired in May 2025 because of a serious shoulder injury, so this isn't a guy stepping away from a couch and a broadcast booth to try coaching for the first time — he's just months removed from actually playing. That kind of proximity to the modern game is exactly what a rebuilding program wants in its quarterback room.
UCLA announced it hired former NFL quarterback Derek Carr as a special advisor to its head coach Bob Chesney. Carr now will help Chesney and the offensive staff with game-planning and also work with UCLA’s quarterbacks.
The connection didn't come out of nowhere. UCLA general manager Darrick Yray previously worked with Carr at Fresno State, where Carr's No. 4 is retired after he threw for 12,842 yards and 113 touchdowns, leading the nation in both in 2013. Carr said the chance to help Chesney, the staff and the quarterbacks was one that really excited him.
Chesney, for his part, is still settling in himself. He was hired away from James Madison last December and is heading into his first season in Westwood, tasked with rebuilding a UCLA program that's struggled in recent years. Adding a recently retired four-time Pro Bowler to help develop his quarterbacks — and knock rust off his own staff's game-planning — is about as good a head start as a first-year coach could ask for.
This is a volunteer role, not a full-time coaching job, so don't expect Carr to be calling plays from a headset on Saturdays. But for UCLA's quarterbacks, having someone with 11 years of NFL reps in the building all fall is a real resource — and for Carr, it's a low-stakes way to figure out if coaching is where the next chapter goes.