LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr has joined UCLA's coaching staff as a special adviser to head coach Bob Chesney.
The Bruins announced the hiring Monday of the 35-year-old Carr, who is volunteering in his first major coaching role.
The longtime Raiders starter will help Chesney and the Bruins’ offensive staff with game planning and strategy, and he will work with UCLA's quarterbacks.
“His experience, leadership and football knowledge will be an incredible resource for our coaching staff and student-athletes,” Chesney said in a statement. “What stands out most is his passion for the game and his commitment to developing young people. Derek will have a tremendous impact on our players and is a great addition to our program.”
Chesney and his staff are in their first season in Westwood after he was hired away from James Madison last December. Carr's connection to the job was through Bruins general manager Darrick Yray, an offensive assistant and an assistant director of football operations at Fresno State during Carr's prolific career with the Bulldogs.
“I’ve known Darrick for a long time and have great respect for the work he’s done throughout his career,” Carr said in a statement. “The opportunity to help Coach Chesney, the staff and the quarterbacks at UCLA was one that really excited me. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences and helping support the program in any way I can.”
Carr is 22nd in NFL history after passing for 41,245 yards during his 11-season career with the Raiders and the New Orleans Saints. He is the Raiders' career leader in yards passing, completions and passing TDs.
Carr was a four-time Pro Bowl selection in Oakland and Las Vegas. After two subsequent seasons as the Saints' starter, Carr retired from the NFL in May 2025 due to a serious right shoulder injury.
Carr's No. 4 is retired at Fresno State after he passed for 12,842 yards and 113 touchdowns, leading the nation in both categories in 2013 while winning the Sammy Baugh Trophy.
At UCLA, Carr will work with presumptive starter Nico Iamaleava, the Tennessee transfer and Long Beach native who passed for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns last season for the Bruins. Iamaleava’s younger brother, Madden, is expected to be their backup quarterback in his second season in the program.
Even before this high-profile addition to his staff, Chesney was already building early momentum in his significant rebuilding project at a program that has foundered over the past decade.
Chip Kelly produced six mediocre seasons before he bolted from Westwood in February 2024, leaving the Bruins in the lurch after that winter's coaching cycle had largely ended. Former UCLA star DeShaun Foster took over on short notice, but was fired three games into his second season last fall before the Bruins finished 3-9.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/college-football
FILE - Inactive New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr stands on the field up before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jan. 5, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken, File)
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — Republicans aiming to flip Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District after redrawing the heavily Black district in their favor will pick their nominee Tuesday to challenge U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, the Democratic incumbent who is seeking a second term despite the political headwinds.
The district is one of several Democratic-leaning districts across the South that were reshaped to favor Republicans following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. The race could help determine the balance of power in the House as Republicans try to hold on to a slim majority in November's midterms. Both parties have put the district on their priority list.
“We need to win this seat back for the state and for the country. We need to turn it red again,” said state Rep. Rhett Marques, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.
Six Republicans are competing to challenge Figures, who is unopposed. Voters also will select nominees in three other Alabama districts affected by the Republicans' redraw.
Democrat Terri Sewell, Alabama's other Black representative, is unopposed and is expected to keep her 7th Congressional District seat in the fall.
Figures won the seat in 2024 after years of litigation under the Voting Rights Act. A federal court redrew the reliably red district after ruling that the GOP-controlled Legislature intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who make up 27% of Alabama's population.
The court said there should be a second Alabama district where Black people are a majority or near-majority. Figures' election gave the state, for the first time in its history, two Black representatives. They're the only Democrats in Alabama's seven-member congressional delegation.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional gerrymander that relied too heavily on race. Alabama Republicans, like those in other Southern states, seized on the decision.
Seeking to implement a map previously drawn by the Legislature, lawmakers approved legislation to nullify the results of ongoing primaries and instead authorize Tuesday's special primary elections. The Supreme Court in June granted Alabama permission to switch maps.
During a recent forum in Dothan, in the far southeastern corner of the state, the GOP candidates answered questions about the Iran war, data centers and the district's needs. But much of the attention was on the general election.
“Shomari is going to have the money. He is going to have the opportunity to keep this district. If we get out to vote, we can win it, and we can take this seat back for the Republicans,” Marques said.
“It's important to get out there and make your voices heard and be represented up in D.C.,” said candidate Hampton Harris, a lawyer.
Christian Horn, a business owner and the lone Black in the race, said Republicans need a candidate who can compete across the district, not just in traditional GOP communities. David Matthews, a former Trump appointee in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Joshua McKee, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, and former Marine James Richardson are also running.
Tom Heisner, a 79-year-old retired air traffic controller who attended the forum, said the GOP is more aligned with his views on border control and other issues.
“I’m fairly confident it will go Republican around here,” he said of the Dothan region. “I’m not so sure up in Montgomery.”
When Figures won the district, it stretched from his hometown of Mobile across the state’s Black Belt region and to the Georgia border.
Now the district is nestled in the state’s southeastern corner. It includes Montgomery and Tuskegee, both Democratic strongholds steeped in civil rights history. It sweeps through rural areas known for peanut and soybean farming. There is a heavy military presence, with an Air Force base in Montgomery and an Army base in Dale County.
The district's Black voting age population dropped from 48% to 40% after it was redrawn.
Speaking at a community gathering at the Beulah Baptist Church, located not far from the path of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, Figures said Republicans won't succeed in making the district “unwinnable” for him.
“That’s in large part because I’ve had the privilege to represent over half of this new district already. We’ve shown up in the communities. We’ve shown them how we can deliver results,” Figures said.
Some Black Alabamians see echoes of the past in the redistricting process.
Maggie Walker, an 80-year-old retired educator from Montgomery, said she interpreted the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision as an effort to install “as many Republicans as possible” in the House. But she is optimistic Figures can win.
“I think he represents us and the things that are important to our state,” Walker said.
“We’re going backward with everything,” said Isaiah Sankey, vice chairman of the Montgomery County Commission. “But it’s OK — we are used to the struggle. It’s move forward, you get pushed back.”
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures speaks at the Washington Brief series, hosted by the Montgomery Regional Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures speaks at the Washington Brief series, hosted by the Montgomery Regional Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures greets members of the public after speaking at the Washington Brief series, hosted by the Montgomery Regional Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
