UPDATE: UCLA has announced Dougherty’s hire.
Oregon head coach Willie Taggart now has two open spots to fill on his coaching staff.
Wide receivers coach Jimmie Dougherty has reportedly left Taggart’s staff to become the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at UCLA, Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman reported on Wednesday morning.
“Knowing Jimmie since 2009 and having been able to see him in action at practice, during games and in the meeting room, it’s exciting to add a coach of his caliber to our staff,” UCLA coach Jim Mora said in a news release. “Not only is he one of the top wide receivers coaches in the country and a very, very good recruiter, his previous working relationships with Jedd (Fisch) and Hank (Fraley) will undoubtedly bring cohesion to our team.”
Oregon has previously confirmed that Dougherty was in the car with assistant coach David Reaves as the time of his arrest on Jan. 22. Reaves has since resigned. Dougherty did not face any charges in the incident and Oregon declined to say whether or not Dougherty faced, or would face, discipline from the event.
Dougherty signed a two-year contract worth $275,000 a year upon arriving at Oregon.
SOURCES: Jimmie Dougherty is leaving #Oregon & is expected to become the new WR coach at #UCLA.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 8, 2017
News of Dougherty’s departure comes a week after Taggart signed his first recruiting class at Oregon. The Ducks signed 24 total players, including four wide receivers.
Dougherty came to Eugene after working as an offensive analyst at Michigan. Before Ann Arbor, he worked at San Jose State and Washington. Dougherty was officially hired by the Ducks on Dec. 23.