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Former Philadelphia Eagles assistant defensive coach Bill McGovern, who worked for a plethora of NFL and NCAA teams, died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, his family said in a statement. He was 60.
McGovern was most recently the UCLA defensive coordinator. The college football team released a statement on the passing of their former coach and offered their "deepest condolences" to the McGovern family and friends.
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Bill McGovern and offer our deepest condolences to Coach McGovern’s family and friends," - UCLA
His cause of death was revealed in a statement released by his family, where they said that McGovern's "long and difficult" battle with cancer came to an end early morning on Tuesday.
“Early this morning we said goodbye to our beloved father and husband Bill after his long and difficult battle with cancer came to an end and today, we would like to thank the entire UCLA community for all of the love and support you gave to Bill and our entire family during this very difficult struggle," the family said.
"In particular, the McGovern family would like to thank UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly and his wife Jill as well as all of the players, coaches, trainers, and support staff of the UCLA football program and their families."
The New York Giants tweeted that he was "a wonderful coach and an even better person."
Looking back at McGovern's coaching career
After working with Chip Kelly in the UCLA staff over the 2022 season, Bill McGovern moved to a staff administrator role for the upcoming season. He has been with Kelly for a good part of the latter's coaching career, working as the outside linebackers coach for the Eagles from 2013 to 2015, with Kelly as head coach.
His knowledge of linebackers was massive. When Kelly and his coaching staff were fired from the Eagles, McGovern was instantly hired by the New York Giants for the same role. He was with the Giants for three years. In 2019, he was moved to the inside linebackers coach role.
His most recent job in the NFL had been with the Chicago Bears under defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who curiously was hired to perform the same job in 2023 by the Eagles.
