It’s still true: UCLA doesn’t fire football coaches when they beat USC.
But sometimes they leave – and Chip Kelly is outta here.
And the marching band plays “Hallelujah.”
Fed-up Bruins fans were fired up Friday when they learned that Kelly had finally found an out after weeks of less-than-secretive interviews elsewhere.
Kelly’s UCLA tenure was capped by a win in the L.A. Bowl, but before that, by late-season losses to Arizona, Arizona State and Cal. By five-star freshman quarterback Dante Moore’s transfer to Oregon. By an exodus of coaches, including first-year star defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to USC. Also, by much of the Bruins fan base making it clear Kelly wasn’t wanted, including flying a banner plane over practice indicating as much.
Plane flying over Wasserman Center with a banner that reads: Read The Room: Fire Chip Kelly. pic.twitter.com/Jet0YtHYLs
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) November 28, 2023
In the end, he accepted a demotion in the form of the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State, walking away from a $6 million salary to coach under his longtime pal Ryan Day.
And how thrilled were Bruins supporters by the news? So very, even though Kelly’s departure comes at a rotten time, just months – actually 174 days, according to Athletic Director Martin Jarmond’s countdown – before the Bruins’ first foray into the Big Ten.
How thrilled? Incredibly, never mind that it’s finally happening as the coaching candidate carousel has slowed to a crawl, Kelly’s eventual repayment for the public support shown to him by Jarmond and other UCLA decision-makers.
How enthused? Mightily, never mind how poorly it portrays UCLA’s football program or the fact that every Bruins player will now have a 30-day window, regardless of transfer history, to consider bolting for what he believes could be a better situation.
Take all those issues into account and still, UCLA fans are elated to be moving on. That’s how much they didn’t like the guy who failed to inspire them in his six seasons, winning when he really had to (say, that 38-20 victory over the Trojans in November), but not nearly often enough otherwise, finishing a mediocre 35-34 overall and leaving the Bruins the worst-ranked recruiting class in program history as a parting gift.
Elated, and annoyed. Because better-late-than-never and what-took-you-so-long are different sides of the same coin.
There is this: Instead of paying Kelly the reported $8.5 million buyout had they fired him before the end of last year, or a $4.5 million buyout this year, he’ll owe UCLA $1.5 million – to be covered, reportedly, by Ohio State.
That, at least, is some good news if you’re an athletic department that’s reportedly posted a $36.6 million deficit, according to the L.A. Times.
Jarmond insisted that there would be more good news soon. On a Zoom call with reporters on Friday afternoon, he promised to move swiftly in naming a new head coach, ideally on a permanent basis but possibly in the interim, and said he asked players to give him 96 hours to identify a new leader before they make any decisions about their college playing careers.
It helped, actually, that Kelly was flirting openly with other jobs; it allowed Jarmond a head start: After reports that Kelly interviewed to be the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Washington Commanders, no, Jarmond said, “we were not caught off guard. We were ready and we’re prepared.”
Even though so many potentially viable candidates are off the board already – including Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith, a Pasadena native, who landed at Michigan State; Jedd Fisch, who went from Arizona to Washington, and San Jose State’s Brent Brennan, a former Bruin, who took Fisch’s place – Jarmond at least had a search party assembled and a checklist drawn up when Kelly called him Friday morning to resign.
UCLA’s wanted ad, as Jarmond described it, would read like this:
Bruins Head Football Coach Job Description
We are looking for a passionate and energetic head coach who can relate with players and function as a modern college athletics CEO. In this position, you will lead UCLA football into the Big Ten Conference while enhancing the program’s NIL fundraising portfolio and developing young men into leaders.
Requirements and qualifications
• Integrity
• Fundraising
• Recruiting
• Compete hungrily
• Respect and appreciate those “four letters” (UCLA)
• Head coaching experience not necessary
• Relate with athletes
The athletes added that last part, but let me add some of my own.
• undaunted
• miracle-worker
Because another way one might read Kelly’s departure is as a sign that UCLA is going to have a heck of a time competing with its new Big Ten brethren.
The Bruins almost certainly will be at a fundraising disadvantage against programs with larger and more rabid fan bases, that support so crucial in this constantly shifting modern era of college sports. The Bruins also will have to travel farther. And their home games at the Rose Bowl are probably going to feel like road games a lot of the time.
Oh, and they’ll have to overcome all of that while playing catchup on account of the current predicament – while satisfying fans who have made it clear: They won’t take .500 for an answer.
But, hey, there is talent abound in Southern California. And the weather is (usually) good here, if you can tolerate some earthquaking.
And somewhere out there is a football coach who thinks all of that sounds awesome, who will see it as a super opportunity, a ladder to new heights. Jarmond is sure of it.
“When you have chaos, there’s an opportunity to move forward and lead, and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “The one thing I do know is this is a great place. UCLA is a great opportunity. Those young men are unbelievable and this is a great time for us and our program as we get ready to enter the Big Ten.”
