Kelly was winning with the zone read and three-star recruits at Oregon. The difference between his tenure at Oregon and at UCLA is three-fold.
1- The zone read was a new offense that defenses had a tough time adjusting to-- plus the hurry up factor disrupted defenses. Now that most teams understand how to defend the zone read and focus on the mesh point, it's easier to blow up.
2- Kelly still had blue chip QBs with tremendous speed running that zone read. DTR is speedy and deceptive, but he's not a blue chipper.
3- Oregon had tremendous fan support. (It helps when your team is winning a lot!) UCLA football does not have tremendous alumni/student support. You will notice that support for Oregon football has waned over the past three years--- they aren't winning like they used to win.
UCLA needs to stop getting cute and run the Pro offense. Stanford did it with great success. So did Washington and USC. They all got away from that and look what has happened: USC still does well enough because it gets those blue chippers, but the other teams have struggled. I loved seeing TE Asiasi get play time this year. He should have received more. (ND is one of the few powerhouse programs who love to use the TE).
The best cure for UCLA woes is to get a blue chip QB. He can bail you out if the running game doesn't pan out and he can save the day if you need quick strikes. USC QB Kedon Slovis was not a blue chip QB per his recruiting ratings, but he really was. The Trojans' recruiters saw what he was doing and signed him.
Find and fight for a great QB. Once UCLA does that, the blue chip receivers will want to come play as well.
I believe Jarmond needs to put HIS stamp on this program sooner rather than later. If Kelly beats Stanford convincingly. Like, puts the hurt on them then maybe. But Jarmond may have put all kinds of stipulations on Kelly in their private meetings and whether Kelly is on track with those I expect, will decide Kelly's future. Hard to believe however, that Jarmond didn't make beating SC a condition for this year...
OK, so I didn't really address the keys you were focusing on. Kelly can be an arrogant coach. I think he sometimes questions why you question his playcalling. For the most part, he's predictable. I knew he was going to go for it on 4th-and-1 both times, and I knew it was probably not going to work out for him. He was making the right call but not having felton in there was a big oooops.
As far as the TOs, that's puzzling. Would an extra 40 seconds have helped? Maybe. We will never know which is probably frustrating as hell. It's the unknowns, woulda-coulda-shoulda and maybes with Kelly that causes angst. If my coach had used ALL of the TOs to get the calls right and on time, yeah, maybe I would take the L better.
USC fans feel your frustration. They are not happy with Helton. This win bought him another season FOR SURE IF he wins the conference. If he doesn't, and they can snag a certain coach, I think he's out. If they can't snag said coach, Helton stays but the search is on behind the scenes.
It comes down to coaching. Two off sides - that give SC a first down/touchdown and utter confusion on the 4th and 1. Couple this with decommits, changes need to be made.
Ugh. That was one of the more disappointing losses I’ve seen since becoming a ucla fan. I like chip but can understand arguments for and against keeping him.
If we keep him I would like to see the following.
1. Hire a special teams coach who spends the majority of their time on special teams. We have lost to many games because of special teams.
2. Bring in a coach with a history of landing big time recruits.
If we move on I would like to see the following.
1. Hire an up and coming head coach from a mid major. I like Lance Leopoldo from Buffalo. 5 years ago they were a division 1 double A school and now they are the best team in MAC.
Simply put, the fact that we effectively controlled the game a majority of the night made this so much more disappointing. We were the under dogs, yet I think most of us had a 'good feeling' about this game. Then to see it get ripped out from under us...f@ck!
Not calling a time out and putting in Felton or Brown cost us the game. And that boys & girls is entirely on Chip.
I'm still too gut-punch sick to discuss this much. But here goes...
I'd love to move on from Kelly. Recruiting right now is horrible and he's already dug us a hole for the next couple years. His in-game decisions (time outs, personnel, play calls in short yardage, etc) hurt us, the lack of adjustments at halftime killed us (and almost burned us last week v ASU), and don't forget he not only retained Jerry Azzinaro after last season, he gave him a fucking raise. And then our defense gave up 33 points in a half and we lost to clown college in our most important game of the season.
But cutting Kelly would cost a ton of money we don't have while we're still paying Mora and that pos Alford (thanks for that, DG), never mind the issue of what coach is available that would be a real upgrade. Weighing all factors, I just don't know if it's the best financial decision right now.
You could literally change 1 play v CU, 1 play v Oregon, and 1 play v *$c and we'd be 6-0. We were close, but close doesn't count. Yes, we're improved from last year, but I think it's attributable to better play from DTR and some general improvement in the D, likely thanks to Norwood. But in the end we beat 3 average/bad teams and we lost to 3 decent/good teams. We're middle of the road mediocre. And I'm tired of it.
Sunday Morning Quarterback: Kelly's Bad Game Management Cost Bruins Against Southern Cal
I wrote at the start of the season that Kelly needed to go 4 and 2.
He Kelly needed also to win the sc game.
So in my opinion, Kelly needs to go.
Kelly was winning with the zone read and three-star recruits at Oregon. The difference between his tenure at Oregon and at UCLA is three-fold.
1- The zone read was a new offense that defenses had a tough time adjusting to-- plus the hurry up factor disrupted defenses. Now that most teams understand how to defend the zone read and focus on the mesh point, it's easier to blow up.
2- Kelly still had blue chip QBs with tremendous speed running that zone read. DTR is speedy and deceptive, but he's not a blue chipper.
3- Oregon had tremendous fan support. (It helps when your team is winning a lot!) UCLA football does not have tremendous alumni/student support. You will notice that support for Oregon football has waned over the past three years--- they aren't winning like they used to win.
UCLA needs to stop getting cute and run the Pro offense. Stanford did it with great success. So did Washington and USC. They all got away from that and look what has happened: USC still does well enough because it gets those blue chippers, but the other teams have struggled. I loved seeing TE Asiasi get play time this year. He should have received more. (ND is one of the few powerhouse programs who love to use the TE).
The best cure for UCLA woes is to get a blue chip QB. He can bail you out if the running game doesn't pan out and he can save the day if you need quick strikes. USC QB Kedon Slovis was not a blue chip QB per his recruiting ratings, but he really was. The Trojans' recruiters saw what he was doing and signed him.
Find and fight for a great QB. Once UCLA does that, the blue chip receivers will want to come play as well.
I believe Jarmond needs to put HIS stamp on this program sooner rather than later. If Kelly beats Stanford convincingly. Like, puts the hurt on them then maybe. But Jarmond may have put all kinds of stipulations on Kelly in their private meetings and whether Kelly is on track with those I expect, will decide Kelly's future. Hard to believe however, that Jarmond didn't make beating SC a condition for this year...
OK, so I didn't really address the keys you were focusing on. Kelly can be an arrogant coach. I think he sometimes questions why you question his playcalling. For the most part, he's predictable. I knew he was going to go for it on 4th-and-1 both times, and I knew it was probably not going to work out for him. He was making the right call but not having felton in there was a big oooops.
As far as the TOs, that's puzzling. Would an extra 40 seconds have helped? Maybe. We will never know which is probably frustrating as hell. It's the unknowns, woulda-coulda-shoulda and maybes with Kelly that causes angst. If my coach had used ALL of the TOs to get the calls right and on time, yeah, maybe I would take the L better.
USC fans feel your frustration. They are not happy with Helton. This win bought him another season FOR SURE IF he wins the conference. If he doesn't, and they can snag a certain coach, I think he's out. If they can't snag said coach, Helton stays but the search is on behind the scenes.
It comes down to coaching. Two off sides - that give SC a first down/touchdown and utter confusion on the 4th and 1. Couple this with decommits, changes need to be made.
Chip is a clown. I wish the Athletic Department wasn't in the hole for $35 million so they could fire that idiot.
"But, with Kelly and his wife Jill selling their Encino home to Mookie Betts, does Kelly want to stay? We’ll have to wait and see."
He's just putting in time until he gets his gourmet catering service biz off the ground, Joe.
Ugh. That was one of the more disappointing losses I’ve seen since becoming a ucla fan. I like chip but can understand arguments for and against keeping him.
If we keep him I would like to see the following.
1. Hire a special teams coach who spends the majority of their time on special teams. We have lost to many games because of special teams.
2. Bring in a coach with a history of landing big time recruits.
If we move on I would like to see the following.
1. Hire an up and coming head coach from a mid major. I like Lance Leopoldo from Buffalo. 5 years ago they were a division 1 double A school and now they are the best team in MAC.
Simply put, the fact that we effectively controlled the game a majority of the night made this so much more disappointing. We were the under dogs, yet I think most of us had a 'good feeling' about this game. Then to see it get ripped out from under us...f@ck!
Not calling a time out and putting in Felton or Brown cost us the game. And that boys & girls is entirely on Chip.
I'm still too gut-punch sick to discuss this much. But here goes...
I'd love to move on from Kelly. Recruiting right now is horrible and he's already dug us a hole for the next couple years. His in-game decisions (time outs, personnel, play calls in short yardage, etc) hurt us, the lack of adjustments at halftime killed us (and almost burned us last week v ASU), and don't forget he not only retained Jerry Azzinaro after last season, he gave him a fucking raise. And then our defense gave up 33 points in a half and we lost to clown college in our most important game of the season.
But cutting Kelly would cost a ton of money we don't have while we're still paying Mora and that pos Alford (thanks for that, DG), never mind the issue of what coach is available that would be a real upgrade. Weighing all factors, I just don't know if it's the best financial decision right now.
You could literally change 1 play v CU, 1 play v Oregon, and 1 play v *$c and we'd be 6-0. We were close, but close doesn't count. Yes, we're improved from last year, but I think it's attributable to better play from DTR and some general improvement in the D, likely thanks to Norwood. But in the end we beat 3 average/bad teams and we lost to 3 decent/good teams. We're middle of the road mediocre. And I'm tired of it.