Jerry Neuheisel was as stressed as can be in the early days of taking over UCLA football’s offense, tight end Hudson Habermehl said Wednesday.
Neuheisel’s wife, Nicole, called Habermehl – the seventh-year Bruin and longtime student of Neuheisel – and asked him a question.
“Can you make sure Jerry eats?” she said, worried that her husband hadn’t eaten all day.
So Habermehl trotted into the coaches’ game-planning room, where Neuheisel was preparing for Penn State, scheming new plays – ways to get the extra edge that came to fruition against the Nittany Lions. He had a delivery.
“Here’s your Uber Eats,” Habermehl joked.
Habermehl painted the picture of his former tight ends coach turned offensive play-caller diving headfirst into his dream opportunity. He remarked that it was like watching your dad drop you off at day care, the day and wondering who he’d hang out with now.
Luckily for Habermehl, Neuheisel has been hanging out with the same group – the players who have all opted to stay after the 30-day transfer portal window closed Wednesday and have gone scorched earth in Big Ten action, averaging 40 points per game in their last two games.
He might no longer be Habermehl’s position coach – analyst Daniel Segal took over day-to-day tight end operations – but Neuheisel is now leading the Bruins into the fire with true Big Ten ambitions.
“Jerry, he’s been waiting for this opportunity for a while,” Habermehl said. “It’s kind of a weird timing, and weird situation for him to get the opportunity, but he’s ran with it.”
Neuheisel told the offense of stories about his dad, former UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel, sitting with him as a child, quizzing young Jerry on what he’d do in fourth-down situations or how he would scheme against certain defenses. So far, against Penn State and Michigan State, he’s answered those questions in real game time.
Jerry Neuheisel has already taken up the mantle of being a coach, like his father is and was, and is so far, tackling each hurdle with purpose through two weeks. UCLA (2-4, 2-1 Big Ten) netted 507 rushing yards over its past two games – more than half of its total 1,004 yards across its six games in 2025.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava has evolved from a national negative headline, and playing the comparison game with Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar, into a name carrying the star power on and off the field.
For wide receiver Mikey Matthews, he sees the improvements UCLA has sculpted in the run game – much thanks to Jerry Neuheisel’s entrance as play-caller – as allowing Iamaleava to thrive across the last two weeks and what’s still to come.
“When we run the ball like that, they just don’t know what we’re going to do,” Matthews said.
Notes
Running back Anthony Woods did not practice for the second consecutive day during the media-watching period. The Utah transfer worked off to the side – not in pads – doing agility drills with training staff members. …
UCLA returned to Spaulding Field for practice Wednesday after rain pushed the Bruins to the intramural fields. Said Matthews on the grass field’s condition: “It actually held up pretty nice. I thought it was gonna be pretty muddy, but it wasn’t muddy at all.”
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