Jackson Gibbs and Alex Akingbulu leaving UCLA football team

UCLA’s roster upheaval under new coach Chip Kelly continued Friday when backup quarterback Jackson Gibbs announced on Twitter that he was transferring to Appalachian State.

Meanwhile, Bruins guard Alex Akingbulu’s coach from Harbor City Narbonne High, Manuel Douglas, said Akingbulu had been granted a release from his scholarship and was deciding whether to remain at UCLA as a student or transfer to play elsewhere. Akingbulu, a redshirt freshman, did not play last season after rehabbing from a torn knee ligament.

Gibbs, a freshman who is the grandson of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, was the fourth-string quarterback and would have dipped to sixth string upon the arrival of Wilton Speight and Dorian Thompson-Robinson this summer. Gibbs did not play in a game last season.

“I’m going to miss UCLA deeply,” Gibbs tweeted, “but pumped to start my new chapter as a mountaineer!”

The Bruins have lost a handful of players since Kelly’s arrival last fall. Tight end Jimmy Jaggers and offensive lineman Jax Wacaser took medical retirements because of repeated concussions and running back Jalen Starks, defensive lineman Greg Rogers, linebacker DeChaun Holiday, offensive lineman Stephan Zabie and defensive backs Will Lockett, Denzel Fisher and Octavius Spencer left the team.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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