Respected college coaching veteran Gary Bernardi is retiring after 40-plus years

Gary Bernardi, a highly esteemed college coaching veteran whose past stops include both sides of the storied UCLA-USC cross-town battle for Los Angeles supremacy, is retiring after more than four decades on sidelines ranging from high school programs to some of the sport’s most prestigious institutions.

A Cal-State Northridge graduate who was an assistant coach at a Burbank, Calif., high school before he even graduated college, Bernardi spent the past four years as a senior offensive analyst on Brady Hoke’s San Diego State Aztecs’ staff.

There are still Bernardi family connections in college football. His son, Joe, is a promising young coach who’s serving as an offensive analyst specializing in working with the offensive line at Auburn under Hugh Freeze while his son-in-law, Andy LaRussa, is the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for Tyson Helton at Western Kentucky University.

Gary Bernardi and his wife, Leigh, have three children: Joe, Briana (Bernardi) LaRussa and Marina. Briana played softball at UNLV when her father was there on staff in a variety of roles that included the offensive line, tight ends and recruiting coordinator duties.

Earning his spot on a collegiate staff in 1980 for Larry Smith at Arizona, Bernardi would go on to coach at four different Pac-12 programs – Arizona, Colorado, UCLA, USC – as well as UNLV, Northern Arizona, San Jose State and then wrapping up a career spanning nearly 500 games at the collegiate level with his last four seasons alongside Hoke for his return to San Diego State.

Bernardi’s former standouts whom he helped develop include Pro Football Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden, former USC All-American Tony Boselli and longtime NFL veteran Marcedes Lewis; he coached a combined 16 years on the sidelines of UCLA and USC, getting a once-in-a-lifetime perspective of the historic rivalry.

He also never failed to give back to the communities in which he served, working extensively with the ALS Association in L.A. and making multiple trips to Washington, D.C., to advocate for funding and research for Lou Gehrig’s Disease.