UCLA football: Norm Chow to become Utah’s offensive coordinator, source says

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The Norm Chow watch is about to come to an end.

Chow, replaced as UCLA’s offensive coordinator by Mike Johnson, will be named the offensive coordinator at the University of Utah, according to a source in the UCLA athletic department. Chow spent 27 seasons as an assistant coach at Brigham Young University in Utah, 21 of them as offensive coordinator.

Utah could make the announcement as soon as Saturday.

Chow, who was the Bruins’ offensive coordinator the last three seasons, has two years remaining on his UCLA contract at $1 million. UCLA officials and Chow’s representative are working on a buyout, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because UCLA has not yet authorized an announcement.

The 64-year old Chow developed Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and helped Trojans teams win national titles. His departure from UCLA comes less than a year after a tug of war with USC for his services. Chow’s representative was contacted by USC, where he was the offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2004, but Chow decided to remain at UCLA after receiving assurances he would get a contract extension.

Chow’s position has been tenuous since November, when Coach Rick Neuheisel refused to offer support when repeatedly asked during a news conference whether Chow would return as offensive coordinator. Neuheisel said he would ‘evaluate’ the situation after the season.

Chow has had success at every other stop, winning national titles at BYU and USC. He developed quarterbacks Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, all Heisman Trophy winners. He also put North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers and BYU’s Steve Young, among others, on the path to the NFL.

-- Chris Foster