Report: Derek Sage leaving for UCLA

Washington State Cougars outside receivers coach Derek Sage has reportedly agreed to an assistant coach position with the UCLA Bruins, according to FootballScoop.com, making him the sixth defection from Mike Leach’s staff this offseason.

If you’re bad at math, that means less than half of WSU’s nine assistant coaches from 2017 have remained. Additionally, the head strength coach has left.

Sage spent just one year on the WSU staff, having joined up last offseason following the departure of JaMarcus Shepard — himself only in Pullman for a year. The receivers coaches have been a bit of a revolving door the last few years.

In addition to this likely being a step up for Sage because it’s at a school with greater tradition, deeper pockets and better location, Sage also is reunited with Chip Kelly, under whom he coached at the University of New Hampshire. There are worse places to land.

With that, Leach is back to having to find two more coaches — Sage’s replacement, and a new head strength and conditioning coach. There are two positions to be filled on offense: running backs and outside receivers. Expect Eric Mele, the current special teams coordinator who has been displaced by the hire of Matt Brock, to take one of those spots.