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Kodi Whitfield Named Cornerbacks Coach of Chip Kelly's UCLA Bruins Football Program

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Football

Kodi Whitfield has been named cornerbacks coach for UCLA football, head coach Chip Kelly announced. It marks a return to the program for Whitfield, who served as a graduate assistant coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Whitfield most recently held the title of safeties coach at Sacramento State in 2022. He also assisted with special teams and player development for the Hornets, who posted an 11-0 regular-season record and reached the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs in his only year.

As a member of the Bruins' staff in 2020 and 2021, Whitfield assisted with the defensive backs. Qwuantrezz Knight and Quentin Lake garnered second-team All-Conference honors from the Pac-12 following the 2021 season, during which UCLA went 8-4. Each player moved on to the NFL in 2022, with Knight landing on the San Francisco 49ers and Lake the Los Angeles Rams.

A standout himself at Stanford from 2012-15, Whitfield played on both sides of the ball for teams that collected three Pac-12 championships. He appeared in 27 games as a wide receiver through his first two seasons, reeling in 18 catches for 183 yards and one touchdown. Then, as a safety in 2014 and 2015, Whitfield piled up 55 total tackles across 26 games. As a senior, he made 50 stops, including a career-high eight versus Arizona. Whitfield played in the 2013, 2014 and 2016 Rose Bowl Games as a member of the Cardinal.

Whitfield graduated from Stanford in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in science in engineering, focused on product design. He went on to earn a master's degree in sports product design from the University of Oregon in 2018 and began working for adidas before turning his attention to coaching. Whitfield completed his master's in transformative coaching and leadership from UCLA in 2022.

Whitfield prepped at Loyola HS in Los Angeles, where he was a three-year varsity football player who was named the Serra League's Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. He was rated the 17th-best wide receiver prospect by PrepStar and tabbed a four-star recruit by Rivals. His father, Bob, was an All-America offensive lineman at Stanford and first-round pick (eighth overall) of the Atlanta Falcons in 1992. Bob Whitfield played 176 games over 12 years professionally and earned a Pro Bowl selection in 1998.