Kelly has not delivered on his objectives. Kelly is playing UCLA to get more money. If you look at the last two home games with less than 40,000 people in the stands. There was no excitement in the stands either. Kelly needs to go.
I would look for a coach who has built a program at a mid major or a division 2 program. Bring in someone who wants a division 1 school that is part of a power 5 conference.
Why not a division to Coach. I’m talking about somebody who has build a program and taking them to the playoffs in that division I’m not talking about some guy that never wins a game so I don’t understand why you’re so against Division II coaches. They all start someplace
Hey anyone still have one of those Chip Kelly T-shirts that were so popular 4 years ago? I cannot believe how many posts on Twitter still support chip and think he has done a great job and he should continue at UCLA. I truly don’t know what those fans are smoking. He has been anything but great, looking at any set of numbers( win-loss record, attendance) all show he has done nothing to warrant an extension. Personally, I very much do not appreciate how he is so glib and condescending to the media when asked very fair questions. Lastly I do not think he represents UCLA well and that in my opinion is enough.
At first, I was hoping that Kelly would not leave, simply because the timing of it has not been good for a while now. The Oregon opening casts additional light on Kelly, though. Now I have to consider why Oregon would not want him, which they apparently don't. Cristobal was not an overall masterful coach, but how could they go back to Kelly following Cristobal's recruiting success? Oregon has some pluses, but if top recruits are not flocking to Kelly at UCLA, would anyone expect much different at Oregon? It's apparently the way Kelly prefers it.
If negotiations are dragging over Kelly's UCLA contract, maybe the January 15 date has always been a major issue for Jarmond. Maybe it will then become an issue for Kelly and his new agent. I can't see where Kelly is negotiating from a position of power, and a new agent trying to prove his worth may further weaken Kelly's position.
Great analysis Dimitri, thanks. My thought exactly... Oregon would have hired him by now. There are so many negatives coming out of his 4 years with the Bruins... won/loss, defensive coaching, recruiting, attendance (and yes, enthusiasm), it's hard to believe that the Quacks would buy into it. I don't think Chip's agent is playing with a great hand!
Stellar writeup! I’m not pro Kelly but I’m also not anti Kelly. My opinion is he gets an extension largely along the lines of small buyout, moderate raise, and conditioned on firing Azzinaro. Also, as long as he gets to nine wins regular season next year, he continues. We have no choice about an extension if we want to keep the recruits we have. That said, I’m still convinced the transfer portal is blowing up and is the new preferred way to recruit. Further, the best way to get better recruits is to win and to get players in the NFL. And having the quarterback Instagrammed in a hot tub with a cheerleader certainly helps!
Maybe in a week when I’m done with teaching for the semester, I might write about the transfer portal as a recruiting strategy, but suffice to say I do not think it is a sustainable strategy.
Great write-up and this analysis re Kelly trying to leverage a favorable extension feels exactly like what a guy who has been mediocre to terribile at his job would do, given that the bloom is off the rose in terms of his professional reputation. And I love the snark on Colin Cowherd. As soon as I read it, I thought if That freaking blowhard says it gonna be sunny, you should take an umbrella with you. I dismissed it before, but what information is out there about Dave Aranda and the possibility of him leaving Baylor?
Oregon fan here. Oregon interviewed three candidates yesterday. Chip, Justin Wilcox and Lane Kiffin. All three private jets for Oregon were chartered out of Redmond. One went to Palm Springs, one went to Phoenix Arizona, and I can't remember where the third went.
And a private jet was chartered from Oxford, Mississippi to Phoenix yesterday as well.
Great analysis, Dimitri....even in light of the recent revelations of U of Phil requesting permission. I still have a hard time understanding why they would want him back. For the sake if argument, if Chip dies leave, who do we realistically go and get?
IF Chip is gone, there's been so much smoke around Aranda, even from people not connected to UCLA (our former colleague Bud Elliot, who now works for 247Sports, stated that the recruiting world believes he's UCLA-bound unprompted) that I have to assume some backchannelling has occurred.
I tend to agree with you that this was put out there by Chip's agent. Oregon has A LOT of money. Chip's a good coach and all, but they can certainly afford a lot better.
Sorry, but again disagree. Kelly is NOT a good coach. If he was it wouldn't have taken him 4 years and a senior laden team to go 8-4 and hang on to one of the worst defensive coordinators in the country.
And yet, they chose a 35-year old rising start coordinator/ace recruiter who's never been a head coach before for a shade under $5 million a year over the course of the contract (6 yrs, $29.1 million - starting at $4.6M with a 100K accelerator each of the first 5 yrs)... wonder what Oregon knows that apparently we don't...
I call bluff, although this is all very interesting. What type energy would Chip infuse to an already established Oregon team ? Please do not say recruiting. By all means they can have Chip, but what remains, what’s serves most important, is who will UCLA bring in after Chip leaves. Time to go to an Oregon board to read the temperature in this matter.
Oregon fan here. We genuinely have no idea what’s happening. There’s a small faction of fans <20% that want chip back. They either haven’t been paying attention to UCLA or they are so scared of losing another coach they’d rather go 8-5.
The rest know the glory days are done. And we will not be convinced that you can hand this over to Chip and he will suddenly embrace recruiting like Mario did. We are not delusional.
Its believed that the decision has made but absolutely no one knows who. All the insiders who are not media mouthpieces have said their sources have gone radio silent. Anyone saying they are hearing things is being told things for a reason.
The win now fans think Phil knight is ready to go scorched earth to get his championship. Meaning big time hire. And those rumors are Kiffin, Aranda, or urban.
No one expects urban to take the job. Just that Phil made a courtesy call to see if a blank check and a chance to get out of the Jacksonville mess had any appeal.
We believe it’s down to Kiffin or Aranda. Oregon usually conducts business super quietly with coaches so all the Wilcox, Chip, and Sitake news feel like dead giveaways they aren’t the actual targets. Especially Chip. He doesn’t do business publicly and there would be no need for the media circus today if it was going to be him. He has Phil’s direct line.
It ain't Kiffin, he just signed a $7.5m deal with Ole Miss. So based on your analysis it must be Aranda. Sadly, we will be stuck with Kelly for at least 3 more years. UCLA ADs are just plain stupid, I guess.
I definitely didn't see the Georgia DC as a hire. But the Lane details aren't actually as restrictive as you think. For a few reasons:
1. its not really an extension because there's a state Law in Mississippi that says State Employees cannot receive contracts longer than 4 years. So its just a continuation of his current deal.
2. his buyout is $3.5m under the new deal, which is astonishingly low. Mario Cristobal's was $9m and Manny Diaz's was $8m. Oregon is still receiving buyout money from willie Taggart leaving, so there was plenty of cash to overcome that hurdle.
3. Oregon made Mario Cristobal an extension for 10 years at $8.5m per so it blows Lane's contract away.
All that is moot now apparently. But Lane did in fact interview last night with Oregon and was ready to accept the job if it was offered.
I still don't know if the Georgia DC offer is official or not. Lots of conflicting information about it right now, so quite a few of us Duck fans are waiting for an official release. Feldman came out and said its not true. So someone here has bad info.
I know people close to the Ole Miss program (very close), it ain't happening. I'm still hopeful the Ducks do the right thing and take Chip off our hands.
It's all behind us now. Hopefully you all win one for the Chipper this season. Thanks for letting me have some good football chat with yah'll. Now go take down Lincoln before he gets that thing up and running!
Sadly, Dimitri, everything you write makes too much sense. Perhaps Chip's booster buddies have convinced Oregon to interview him to help their old friend with his contract extension? I can not fathom why the Ducks would want to hire Chip, given his ineffectiveness here during his reign. Having said that, I really really want them to hire him so we no longer have to put up with Chip. I won't beat a dead horse (many know my opinion of him) but I just don't see the logic in any other team taking him off our hands. I've sadly come to the acceptance of possibly one more year of Chip before we show him the door (trusting our AD to really lowball him on his extension, of course ;-)
If Chip Kelly goes back to Oregon (hopefully with Azzinaro), it would finally force Jarmond to hire a new head coach instead of settling for a 5th year of mediocrity (or worse). Just hope he doesn't rely solely on the same committee the previous AD had used to choose Kelly...
and then you'd be bitching again in 2 years when the coordinator or mid major coach we hired has us 6-6. What you REALLY want is for UCLA to hire a top 10 coach, but that cannot happen.
Kelly has not delivered on his objectives. Kelly is playing UCLA to get more money. If you look at the last two home games with less than 40,000 people in the stands. There was no excitement in the stands either. Kelly needs to go.
and replace with who?
ANYBODY!
I would look for a coach who has built a program at a mid major or a division 2 program. Bring in someone who wants a division 1 school that is part of a power 5 conference.
lol you want to replace Chip Kelly with a division 2 coach???????
Why not a division to Coach. I’m talking about somebody who has build a program and taking them to the playoffs in that division I’m not talking about some guy that never wins a game so I don’t understand why you’re so against Division II coaches. They all start someplace
wow. we don't do that at UCLA.
Why not
We don't win that many games, either.
A good D2 coach.
Hey anyone still have one of those Chip Kelly T-shirts that were so popular 4 years ago? I cannot believe how many posts on Twitter still support chip and think he has done a great job and he should continue at UCLA. I truly don’t know what those fans are smoking. He has been anything but great, looking at any set of numbers( win-loss record, attendance) all show he has done nothing to warrant an extension. Personally, I very much do not appreciate how he is so glib and condescending to the media when asked very fair questions. Lastly I do not think he represents UCLA well and that in my opinion is enough.
The Twitter support is because there's a huge subset of really ignorant people on Twitter:<)
At first, I was hoping that Kelly would not leave, simply because the timing of it has not been good for a while now. The Oregon opening casts additional light on Kelly, though. Now I have to consider why Oregon would not want him, which they apparently don't. Cristobal was not an overall masterful coach, but how could they go back to Kelly following Cristobal's recruiting success? Oregon has some pluses, but if top recruits are not flocking to Kelly at UCLA, would anyone expect much different at Oregon? It's apparently the way Kelly prefers it.
If negotiations are dragging over Kelly's UCLA contract, maybe the January 15 date has always been a major issue for Jarmond. Maybe it will then become an issue for Kelly and his new agent. I can't see where Kelly is negotiating from a position of power, and a new agent trying to prove his worth may further weaken Kelly's position.
...or Oregon hires Kelly? I still can't believe they would.
Great analysis Dimitri, thanks. My thought exactly... Oregon would have hired him by now. There are so many negatives coming out of his 4 years with the Bruins... won/loss, defensive coaching, recruiting, attendance (and yes, enthusiasm), it's hard to believe that the Quacks would buy into it. I don't think Chip's agent is playing with a great hand!
Stellar writeup! I’m not pro Kelly but I’m also not anti Kelly. My opinion is he gets an extension largely along the lines of small buyout, moderate raise, and conditioned on firing Azzinaro. Also, as long as he gets to nine wins regular season next year, he continues. We have no choice about an extension if we want to keep the recruits we have. That said, I’m still convinced the transfer portal is blowing up and is the new preferred way to recruit. Further, the best way to get better recruits is to win and to get players in the NFL. And having the quarterback Instagrammed in a hot tub with a cheerleader certainly helps!
Maybe in a week when I’m done with teaching for the semester, I might write about the transfer portal as a recruiting strategy, but suffice to say I do not think it is a sustainable strategy.
Great write-up and this analysis re Kelly trying to leverage a favorable extension feels exactly like what a guy who has been mediocre to terribile at his job would do, given that the bloom is off the rose in terms of his professional reputation. And I love the snark on Colin Cowherd. As soon as I read it, I thought if That freaking blowhard says it gonna be sunny, you should take an umbrella with you. I dismissed it before, but what information is out there about Dave Aranda and the possibility of him leaving Baylor?
I always knew Cowherd was an asshat, but love it when he goes out and proves it!
always has been. love when he tries to talk politics but prefaces it with "this is not political"
Oregon requests permission to speak with Kelly.
Oregon fan here. Oregon interviewed three candidates yesterday. Chip, Justin Wilcox and Lane Kiffin. All three private jets for Oregon were chartered out of Redmond. One went to Palm Springs, one went to Phoenix Arizona, and I can't remember where the third went.
And a private jet was chartered from Oxford, Mississippi to Phoenix yesterday as well.
Hmmm…
Lol I love when I write an entire thing, and then reality decides to mess with me about 24 hours later.
Haha. On the other hand, it's good to know that reality is keeping such a close eye on your moves. You've made it nervous.
Great analysis, Dimitri....even in light of the recent revelations of U of Phil requesting permission. I still have a hard time understanding why they would want him back. For the sake if argument, if Chip dies leave, who do we realistically go and get?
No clue! Sadly, it seems like something where we should know about a few options!
IF Chip is gone, there's been so much smoke around Aranda, even from people not connected to UCLA (our former colleague Bud Elliot, who now works for 247Sports, stated that the recruiting world believes he's UCLA-bound unprompted) that I have to assume some backchannelling has occurred.
I tend to agree with you that this was put out there by Chip's agent. Oregon has A LOT of money. Chip's a good coach and all, but they can certainly afford a lot better.
Sorry, but again disagree. Kelly is NOT a good coach. If he was it wouldn't have taken him 4 years and a senior laden team to go 8-4 and hang on to one of the worst defensive coordinators in the country.
didn't say he's a great coach. he is good. but Oregon has the cash to pursue a top 10 coach.
And yet, they chose a 35-year old rising start coordinator/ace recruiter who's never been a head coach before for a shade under $5 million a year over the course of the contract (6 yrs, $29.1 million - starting at $4.6M with a 100K accelerator each of the first 5 yrs)... wonder what Oregon knows that apparently we don't...
dude, he's been the DC at GEORGIA for the last 3 years. There's a reason he was making 7 figures as a coordinator. Dan Lanning was no secret.
Well that didn’t take long. Looks like he’s going…
I call bluff, although this is all very interesting. What type energy would Chip infuse to an already established Oregon team ? Please do not say recruiting. By all means they can have Chip, but what remains, what’s serves most important, is who will UCLA bring in after Chip leaves. Time to go to an Oregon board to read the temperature in this matter.
Oregon fan here. We genuinely have no idea what’s happening. There’s a small faction of fans <20% that want chip back. They either haven’t been paying attention to UCLA or they are so scared of losing another coach they’d rather go 8-5.
The rest know the glory days are done. And we will not be convinced that you can hand this over to Chip and he will suddenly embrace recruiting like Mario did. We are not delusional.
Its believed that the decision has made but absolutely no one knows who. All the insiders who are not media mouthpieces have said their sources have gone radio silent. Anyone saying they are hearing things is being told things for a reason.
The win now fans think Phil knight is ready to go scorched earth to get his championship. Meaning big time hire. And those rumors are Kiffin, Aranda, or urban.
No one expects urban to take the job. Just that Phil made a courtesy call to see if a blank check and a chance to get out of the Jacksonville mess had any appeal.
We believe it’s down to Kiffin or Aranda. Oregon usually conducts business super quietly with coaches so all the Wilcox, Chip, and Sitake news feel like dead giveaways they aren’t the actual targets. Especially Chip. He doesn’t do business publicly and there would be no need for the media circus today if it was going to be him. He has Phil’s direct line.
It ain't Kiffin, he just signed a $7.5m deal with Ole Miss. So based on your analysis it must be Aranda. Sadly, we will be stuck with Kelly for at least 3 more years. UCLA ADs are just plain stupid, I guess.
I definitely didn't see the Georgia DC as a hire. But the Lane details aren't actually as restrictive as you think. For a few reasons:
1. its not really an extension because there's a state Law in Mississippi that says State Employees cannot receive contracts longer than 4 years. So its just a continuation of his current deal.
2. his buyout is $3.5m under the new deal, which is astonishingly low. Mario Cristobal's was $9m and Manny Diaz's was $8m. Oregon is still receiving buyout money from willie Taggart leaving, so there was plenty of cash to overcome that hurdle.
3. Oregon made Mario Cristobal an extension for 10 years at $8.5m per so it blows Lane's contract away.
All that is moot now apparently. But Lane did in fact interview last night with Oregon and was ready to accept the job if it was offered.
I still don't know if the Georgia DC offer is official or not. Lots of conflicting information about it right now, so quite a few of us Duck fans are waiting for an official release. Feldman came out and said its not true. So someone here has bad info.
I know people close to the Ole Miss program (very close), it ain't happening. I'm still hopeful the Ducks do the right thing and take Chip off our hands.
It's all behind us now. Hopefully you all win one for the Chipper this season. Thanks for letting me have some good football chat with yah'll. Now go take down Lincoln before he gets that thing up and running!
Maybe Mike Tomlin will come available!
I wasn’t in favor of firing Chip. I just want Azz gone. If Oregon wants to throw big money at a guy who is 18-25, have at it Ducks.
Sadly, Dimitri, everything you write makes too much sense. Perhaps Chip's booster buddies have convinced Oregon to interview him to help their old friend with his contract extension? I can not fathom why the Ducks would want to hire Chip, given his ineffectiveness here during his reign. Having said that, I really really want them to hire him so we no longer have to put up with Chip. I won't beat a dead horse (many know my opinion of him) but I just don't see the logic in any other team taking him off our hands. I've sadly come to the acceptance of possibly one more year of Chip before we show him the door (trusting our AD to really lowball him on his extension, of course ;-)
If Chip Kelly goes back to Oregon (hopefully with Azzinaro), it would finally force Jarmond to hire a new head coach instead of settling for a 5th year of mediocrity (or worse). Just hope he doesn't rely solely on the same committee the previous AD had used to choose Kelly...
I say give Chip 4 more years, 25 million. Required to fire the DC.
I'd show him the door. But I guess that's just me.
and then you'd be bitching again in 2 years when the coordinator or mid major coach we hired has us 6-6. What you REALLY want is for UCLA to hire a top 10 coach, but that cannot happen.