Longtime Football Coach Bible Announces Retirement

LOS ANGELES -- Dana Bible announced Friday his retirement from a football coaching career which has spanned over 45 years, covered duties at programs from coast to coast and seen him teach many of the best at the quarterback position at the college and professional levels during that period.

Bible joined head coach Chip Kelly's UCLA staff as quarterbacks coach for the 2018 season after serving as an offensive coordinator in both the NFL and the collegiate ranks. He has coached current NFL standouts Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and Mike Glennon, as well as former Pro Bowler Boomer Esiason.

"I've known Dana since I was a young coach in New Hampshire and am thankful for the opportunity to have worked alongside him in recent years," said Kelly. "I sincerely value the opportunity I've had to learn from him throughout my career while getting to know him as a coach, husband and father.

"Coach Bible's impact on the game of football speaks for itself. The long line of successful quarterbacks that have learned under his tutelage is no coincidence and can be credited to his disciplined approach to teaching, which is second to none.

"While he is retiring from the game of football," Kelly added. "I look forward to continuing our relationship as he starts the next chapter of his life."

In the 2020 season, UCLA ranked 20th nationally and second in the Pac-12 in pass efficiency rating (154.68), with quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson posting the best mark by a starting Bruin quarterback since 2005 (156.29). Thompson-Robinson became the first Bruin signal caller ever to reach the 100-yard rushing and 300-yard passing milestones in the same game (at Colorado, 109 rushing/303 passing). UCLA's total of 18 scoring passes topped the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins also rated second in the league in total offense (455.0). UCLA led the Pac-12 with 31 touchdowns on the season and ranked 20th in the nation in scoring offense (35.4).

In Year 2 at UCLA, Thompson-Robinson finished among the top 10 in program history for a single season in completions (216-9th), total offense (2,899-10th) and touchdown passes (21-10th). He set a school mark with 564 yards of total offense in a thrilling comeback win at Washington State. Thompson-Robinson's 431 yards of total offense at USC was the second-most ever by a Bruin in a contest against the Trojans.

In his first season with the Bruins in 2018, Bible tutored a veteran (Wilton Speight) and a first-year performer (Thompson-Robinson) at the quarterback position. Speight produced 466 passing yards against Stanford, the fifth-highest total in UCLA history at the time. Thompson-Robinson completed 13 of 15 passes at Cal for an .866 completion percentage which was the third-highest mark by a Bruin quarterback in a game with at least 15 attempts since 1980.

Bible served in the 2016 season as a senior advisor on Coach Kelly's staff for the San Francisco 49ers. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for North Carolina State from 2007-2012. He also coached the Wolfpack receivers during the 2007-2011 seasons. The Wolfpack played in four bowl games during his tenure and posted a 5-1 record in games against rival North Carolina.

During that period at NC State, he tutored future pros Wilson and Glennon. From 2008-2010, Wilson threw for over 8,500 yards and 76 touchdowns, tying the school record with five touchdown passes in a game against Florida State, and setting an NCAA record with 379 passing attempts without an interception in his career. His efficiency rating of 147.77 in the 2009 season, when he threw for 3,027 yards, ranked second on the all-time school list. In 2008, Wilson, a redshirt freshman, was named the Rookie of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and became the first freshman to be named a first-team All-ACC selection at the quarterback position.

Glennon (2008-2012), totaled over 7,400 yards passing and tossed 63 scoring passes, throwing for 31 touchdowns in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He tied the school record of five touchdown passes in a game on multiple occasions and ranks second on the all-time school list for passing yards in a season with 4,031 in 2012, when he had three games of 440 passing yards or more.

Prior to his time at NC State, Bible was the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and receivers coach at Boston College from 1999-2006. The Eagles earned a bowl trip in each season Bible was at BC and posted wins in seven straight bowl appearances overall (defeating Arizona State in the 2000 Aloha Bowl, Georgia in the 2001 Music City Bowl, Toledo in the 2002 Motor City Bowl, Colorado State in the 2003 San Francisco Bowl, North Carolina in the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl, Boise State in the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl, Navy in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl). Matt Ryan, who would go on to win the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the 2007 Manning Award, threw for three touchdowns and was named the MVP of the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.

Two of the top 10 rushers in Boston College history, William Green (1999-2001), who totaled 2,974 yards rushing, and Derrick Knight (2000-03), who racked up 3,725 yards on the ground for his career, fueled the Eagle offense during this period. Green was the first running back selected in the 2002 NFL Draft.

BC posted at least eight wins in six of the seasons Bible coached at the school, registering an 8-3 record in the 1999 season, which included a win over Notre Dame and the school's first bowl invitation (Insight.com Bowl) since 1994. The four-win improvement marked the third-best turnaround in major college football that season. In 2004, the Eagles earned a share of the Big East Conference title.

In 1998, Bible served as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, where he worked on the staff of head coach Ray Rhodes. Prior to his time in the NFL, Bible served from 1995-97 as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under head coach Tyrone Willingham at Stanford, where he coached quarterback Chad Hutchinson. The Cardinal earned a spot in two bowl games (1995 Liberty Bowl and 1996 Sun Bowl) and recorded three straight wins in the rivalry game versus California during his tenure on the Farm.

In 1994, Bible was offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Cincinnati. From 1990-92, he began his tenure in the NFL as the quarterbacks coach of the Cincinnati Bengals on the staffs of Sam Wyche and then Dave Shula. The starting quarterback for the Bengals during this time was Esiason. In 1990, the Bengals won the AFC Central, but lost in the Divisional playoffs.

In the 1989 season, Bible served as wide receivers coach at Miami, Ohio. From 1986-89, he was the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and receivers coach at San Diego State. The 1986 Aztecs team won the Western Athletic Conference title and earned the school's first bowl bid in 17 years (Holiday Bowl). Quarterback Todd Santos, who was the MVP of that bowl game, went on to lead the nation in passing in 1987 and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints.

From 1983-85, Bible worked as coach of the receivers and quarterbacks at NC State, where he coached future pro quarterback Erik Kramer. He was the receivers coach at Miami, Ohio in 1981 when the team finished second in the Mid-American Conference. In 1978 and 1979, Bible served as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Cincinnati and coached quarterback Danny Barrett, who went on to have an outstanding career in the Canadian Football League. He began his coaching career with the Bearcats as a graduate assistant coach for the 1976 and 1977 seasons after playing at Cincinnati from 1973-75.