Chip just had the best season he’s had. Sure, it’s not a high bar, but if you fire him, what other coaches are going to want to come to ucla? USC has always provided more allure on the football side of things, so comparing ucla to them isn’t an apples to apples comparison.
Sorry, this was a 10-2 team (worst case). With the schedule they had and given they lost 3 of their 4 games at home simply says he has to go. However, I'd let him finish his contract. Then he's gone. Looking at the recruiting, he is #37 out of the top 50 teams. Stanford and Oregon are ahead of him in recruiting and this is with SUC without a coach, soon they will fall behind SUC as well. Another interesting observation, his defenses have been horrible and that would figure because he's an offensive minded coach... hmm just like Lincoln Riley perhaps? If you look at Kelly's pathetic recruiting this year, he has 12 commits so far, only 3 are on defense which equates to 25% recruiting via defense. As a comparison, Georgia, the number one recruiter for 2022 (so far) has a 56% recruiting differential favoring defense. Oregon is at 63% favoring defense, even SUC is 50%! Oklahoma is at 36%, very close to Kelly's 25%. No, give him his last season and flush him and his abysmal assistants. He has to go; he has been a bust.
To the people who want to replace Chip Kelly with a better coach: Where do you think the money is going to come from? If it wasn't there 2 days ago, it's certainly not there anymore. Lincoln Riley just rewrote the market for college football coaches. If the rumors are true, he's getting $110 million. Probably translates to at least $12 mil if not $15 mil per year. Chip is paid.....wait for it....$5.6 mil. And that's really stretching us thin. And he has a buyout.
Consider the following scenario. UCLA comes up with Chip's buyout and fires him tomorrow. Matt Campbell, Josh Heupel, Luke Fickell, insert whoever, are interested in the UCLA job. WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Their salaries just went way up. Hell, I'm not sure we can even afford to give Chip an extension. There's not a chance in hell we can pay a football coach $7-10 million which is what is going to be required to get an elite coach. Not a chance in hell.
Is UCLA ready to take modern college football seriously? Not really, or not yet anyway. I agree that recruiting needs to improve big time, and so does coaching the defense, but those failures are a direct consequence of Kelly's approach. Putting him in charge of making those improvements seems highly dubious. Looks like more of the same to me. Since a lot of the best current HC candidates are changing schools this year, maybe Jarmond can swing a really good DC hire (some will be looking for work), who might have good future HC potential. (Just a wild thought.)
We all know the answer. Basketball first, football isn't the priority. Moreover, unlike $C, we are cash strapped and a real university where academics are important. I do think we should reserve judgment on Chip until after the bowl game. If we beat a quality team, i.e. Penn State, I have no objection to a reasonable extension but the buyout simply can't be such that it prevents us from moving on if we aren't consistent next year. That said, I agree the defense has been consistently terrible and we should avoid being hamstrung by Chip having the defensive coordinator of his choice in any contract extension.
When I look at who I thought was an elite coach, David Shaw, I'm reminded that we could also end up much worse without a clear home run hire which won't happen in this market, with this cash strapped university, with its academic requirements and the high level of character that the football team should expect of its recruits.
In the spirit of the post-Thanksgiving holiday, I give Chip credit for bringing the victory bell back in style--we scored more points against SC than anyone this year (including Notre Dame) and obliterating talented Cal and LSU defenses, not through talent alone but through scheming and developing talent--something that hasn't happened at UCLA in a long time. This offense seems to be getting even more lethal as time goes on to make we wonder if we even need a defense (joke intended).
Anyone have any opinion of whether DTR is coming back? I believe he will get his NFL shot one day, but if he leaves this year, it will definitely be as an undrafted FA or maybe not at all. I think he's one of the rare guys who could benefit financially from staying in college another season. Most guys have hit their college peak by this point in their careers, but DTR has not.
The college football landscape has shifted immensely in just a few days. Reports say Brian Kelly is heading to LSU. The top tier teams will get their top tier coaches while teams like UCLA will have to settle. That’s the picture I see. The domino effect does not help schools like us because the elite teams will not miss on their coaches, leaving leftovers we have to reach for.
We have to be calculated with the next hire, it has to directly counter the Lincoln Riley hire at USC. We would be blind to look past what he will bring to them. It’s clear, it’s predictable, it means we needs studs on the defensive end, specifically speed speed and more speed.
With Kelly it’s mediocrity, at least he is at the tail end of his contract but by the time he leaves the PAC12 will be stronger.
Regardless of how he does next year, the relevance will be how UCLA will adjust in the pac12 the next years. And folks it’s mediocrity.
Go find a young up coming coach after Kelly leaves.
We put up 42 on Colorado, 35 on Oregon, 38 on $¢, and 47 on the ‘Furd, and LOST all 4 of those games.
We put up 37 points on Fresno State this year… and lost. And we put up 31 on Oregon… and lost again. We were only down 1 point at halftime against Sparky, and Utah beat us with Ethan Garbers at QB. I would have been happy winning two of those but here we are…
I always was a Chip Kelly fan and I still am, and honestly, I’ll take our offense against anyone, even $¢ with Drake London. Maybe there are some QB’s a little better than DTR, but Charbonnet, Kyle Phillips, and Dulcich beat whoever else that have. Our problem is on D, it is very clearly on D, and it has been this way for quite some time. Chip however refuses to let his buddy go, so Jarmond needs to make him upgrade. We need a real DC that hopefully won’t continue to give 7 yard cushions on 3rd and 3… and maybe a DC that will allow us to win if we score 47 freaking points…
Looking around, I think the transfer portal is going to become the dominant way to recruit in the next few years. It’s like an Amazon for players. No more sending ACs all over the world, you just sit on your couch and the world comes to you. As to Kelly, my guess is he gets an extension. Is there another choice? UCLA doesn’t have anywhere near $110 million for a …football coach…
Why would anyone with half a brain think at this point Chip is going to make a huge change in his approach to recruiting and become Mr. Gung Ho? You either have that attitude or you don't. What's that old adage about the leopard? Maybe... just maybe if he could find another Jerry Long (yes, I'm that old!).
Crazy thought for the night. A fair amount of this seems to be about money (not just $, but. . .) So if Lincoln Riley can be brought to SC and Brian Kelly to LSU, how about Nick Saban to UCLA. I did say crazy thought. I know where does that kind of coin come from. I wish from somewhere.
If you show me your budget, I'll show you your priorities... So, if your argument is that UCLA "doesn't have the money", then your answer to the question posed in the title of the post is simply "no" - 36,000 for home games and hoping for 6-6 and minor bowl eligibility until/unless you have 20 returning starters while $outhern Cal is making CFP runs - until Riley heads to the NFL in a few years - is "good enough".
As far as Chip and next season - the more that comes out, the more that it appears likely that, after the blowout to Stanford, the $C AD/admin wrote the year off as a loss, canned Helton figuring whatever happened happened without really caring about 2021 results while wooing Riley throughout the season, knowing that everyone would forget that 2021 ever happened the second he was hired... is it possible that Chip gets the "Harbaugh extension" (with the conditions of a decreased buyout & firing Azz and the defensive staff) and next year is treated as an informal holding pattern with an eye towards landing someone this time next year (when we're not competing with Notre Dame, etc) unless something unforeseen happens - as it did for Harbaugh himself this season?
Too bad the wrong Coach Kelly got hired by LSU. Simply being the best of the worst in a pathetically weak Pac-12 conference this season doesn't seem deserving of a contract extension, especially after it has taken 4 long, awful years for the UCLA football program just to attain this level of mediocrity. As a holiday gift wish, I hope they would at least consider replacing the totally inept defensive coaching staff. Oh well, their record under Chip Kelly has indeed gotten better each year, and the win against (mediocre) LSU gave everyone (absolute false) hope early in the season (until they hit reality against Fresno State). By the way, what a smart decision to schedule their non-conference games against national powerhouses (LOL) such as Bowling Green (4-8 this season), Alabama State (a Div-1AA school that went 5-6), and South Alabama (5-7) at the (nearly empty) Rose Bowl next season. It will surely help Chip Kelly achieve another glorious winning record (against more worse teams) and secure a ticket to a consecutive post-season (toilet) bowl game.
Chip just had the best season he’s had. Sure, it’s not a high bar, but if you fire him, what other coaches are going to want to come to ucla? USC has always provided more allure on the football side of things, so comparing ucla to them isn’t an apples to apples comparison.
Sorry, this was a 10-2 team (worst case). With the schedule they had and given they lost 3 of their 4 games at home simply says he has to go. However, I'd let him finish his contract. Then he's gone. Looking at the recruiting, he is #37 out of the top 50 teams. Stanford and Oregon are ahead of him in recruiting and this is with SUC without a coach, soon they will fall behind SUC as well. Another interesting observation, his defenses have been horrible and that would figure because he's an offensive minded coach... hmm just like Lincoln Riley perhaps? If you look at Kelly's pathetic recruiting this year, he has 12 commits so far, only 3 are on defense which equates to 25% recruiting via defense. As a comparison, Georgia, the number one recruiter for 2022 (so far) has a 56% recruiting differential favoring defense. Oregon is at 63% favoring defense, even SUC is 50%! Oklahoma is at 36%, very close to Kelly's 25%. No, give him his last season and flush him and his abysmal assistants. He has to go; he has been a bust.
"18-25 over the four years", may as well punt on second down. But seriously does anyone good out there want the job? We've been down that road before.
To the people who want to replace Chip Kelly with a better coach: Where do you think the money is going to come from? If it wasn't there 2 days ago, it's certainly not there anymore. Lincoln Riley just rewrote the market for college football coaches. If the rumors are true, he's getting $110 million. Probably translates to at least $12 mil if not $15 mil per year. Chip is paid.....wait for it....$5.6 mil. And that's really stretching us thin. And he has a buyout.
Consider the following scenario. UCLA comes up with Chip's buyout and fires him tomorrow. Matt Campbell, Josh Heupel, Luke Fickell, insert whoever, are interested in the UCLA job. WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Their salaries just went way up. Hell, I'm not sure we can even afford to give Chip an extension. There's not a chance in hell we can pay a football coach $7-10 million which is what is going to be required to get an elite coach. Not a chance in hell.
Is UCLA ready to take modern college football seriously? Not really, or not yet anyway. I agree that recruiting needs to improve big time, and so does coaching the defense, but those failures are a direct consequence of Kelly's approach. Putting him in charge of making those improvements seems highly dubious. Looks like more of the same to me. Since a lot of the best current HC candidates are changing schools this year, maybe Jarmond can swing a really good DC hire (some will be looking for work), who might have good future HC potential. (Just a wild thought.)
We all know the answer. Basketball first, football isn't the priority. Moreover, unlike $C, we are cash strapped and a real university where academics are important. I do think we should reserve judgment on Chip until after the bowl game. If we beat a quality team, i.e. Penn State, I have no objection to a reasonable extension but the buyout simply can't be such that it prevents us from moving on if we aren't consistent next year. That said, I agree the defense has been consistently terrible and we should avoid being hamstrung by Chip having the defensive coordinator of his choice in any contract extension.
When I look at who I thought was an elite coach, David Shaw, I'm reminded that we could also end up much worse without a clear home run hire which won't happen in this market, with this cash strapped university, with its academic requirements and the high level of character that the football team should expect of its recruits.
In the spirit of the post-Thanksgiving holiday, I give Chip credit for bringing the victory bell back in style--we scored more points against SC than anyone this year (including Notre Dame) and obliterating talented Cal and LSU defenses, not through talent alone but through scheming and developing talent--something that hasn't happened at UCLA in a long time. This offense seems to be getting even more lethal as time goes on to make we wonder if we even need a defense (joke intended).
Anyone have any opinion of whether DTR is coming back? I believe he will get his NFL shot one day, but if he leaves this year, it will definitely be as an undrafted FA or maybe not at all. I think he's one of the rare guys who could benefit financially from staying in college another season. Most guys have hit their college peak by this point in their careers, but DTR has not.
The college football landscape has shifted immensely in just a few days. Reports say Brian Kelly is heading to LSU. The top tier teams will get their top tier coaches while teams like UCLA will have to settle. That’s the picture I see. The domino effect does not help schools like us because the elite teams will not miss on their coaches, leaving leftovers we have to reach for.
We have to be calculated with the next hire, it has to directly counter the Lincoln Riley hire at USC. We would be blind to look past what he will bring to them. It’s clear, it’s predictable, it means we needs studs on the defensive end, specifically speed speed and more speed.
With Kelly it’s mediocrity, at least he is at the tail end of his contract but by the time he leaves the PAC12 will be stronger.
Regardless of how he does next year, the relevance will be how UCLA will adjust in the pac12 the next years. And folks it’s mediocrity.
Go find a young up coming coach after Kelly leaves.
Just get a real DC!
Our losses from 2020
We put up 42 on Colorado, 35 on Oregon, 38 on $¢, and 47 on the ‘Furd, and LOST all 4 of those games.
We put up 37 points on Fresno State this year… and lost. And we put up 31 on Oregon… and lost again. We were only down 1 point at halftime against Sparky, and Utah beat us with Ethan Garbers at QB. I would have been happy winning two of those but here we are…
I always was a Chip Kelly fan and I still am, and honestly, I’ll take our offense against anyone, even $¢ with Drake London. Maybe there are some QB’s a little better than DTR, but Charbonnet, Kyle Phillips, and Dulcich beat whoever else that have. Our problem is on D, it is very clearly on D, and it has been this way for quite some time. Chip however refuses to let his buddy go, so Jarmond needs to make him upgrade. We need a real DC that hopefully won’t continue to give 7 yard cushions on 3rd and 3… and maybe a DC that will allow us to win if we score 47 freaking points…
Looking around, I think the transfer portal is going to become the dominant way to recruit in the next few years. It’s like an Amazon for players. No more sending ACs all over the world, you just sit on your couch and the world comes to you. As to Kelly, my guess is he gets an extension. Is there another choice? UCLA doesn’t have anywhere near $110 million for a …football coach…
Pete Carroll might be available…
Why would anyone with half a brain think at this point Chip is going to make a huge change in his approach to recruiting and become Mr. Gung Ho? You either have that attitude or you don't. What's that old adage about the leopard? Maybe... just maybe if he could find another Jerry Long (yes, I'm that old!).
Crazy thought for the night. A fair amount of this seems to be about money (not just $, but. . .) So if Lincoln Riley can be brought to SC and Brian Kelly to LSU, how about Nick Saban to UCLA. I did say crazy thought. I know where does that kind of coin come from. I wish from somewhere.
How about Dabo Swinney
If you show me your budget, I'll show you your priorities... So, if your argument is that UCLA "doesn't have the money", then your answer to the question posed in the title of the post is simply "no" - 36,000 for home games and hoping for 6-6 and minor bowl eligibility until/unless you have 20 returning starters while $outhern Cal is making CFP runs - until Riley heads to the NFL in a few years - is "good enough".
As far as Chip and next season - the more that comes out, the more that it appears likely that, after the blowout to Stanford, the $C AD/admin wrote the year off as a loss, canned Helton figuring whatever happened happened without really caring about 2021 results while wooing Riley throughout the season, knowing that everyone would forget that 2021 ever happened the second he was hired... is it possible that Chip gets the "Harbaugh extension" (with the conditions of a decreased buyout & firing Azz and the defensive staff) and next year is treated as an informal holding pattern with an eye towards landing someone this time next year (when we're not competing with Notre Dame, etc) unless something unforeseen happens - as it did for Harbaugh himself this season?
Too bad the wrong Coach Kelly got hired by LSU. Simply being the best of the worst in a pathetically weak Pac-12 conference this season doesn't seem deserving of a contract extension, especially after it has taken 4 long, awful years for the UCLA football program just to attain this level of mediocrity. As a holiday gift wish, I hope they would at least consider replacing the totally inept defensive coaching staff. Oh well, their record under Chip Kelly has indeed gotten better each year, and the win against (mediocre) LSU gave everyone (absolute false) hope early in the season (until they hit reality against Fresno State). By the way, what a smart decision to schedule their non-conference games against national powerhouses (LOL) such as Bowling Green (4-8 this season), Alabama State (a Div-1AA school that went 5-6), and South Alabama (5-7) at the (nearly empty) Rose Bowl next season. It will surely help Chip Kelly achieve another glorious winning record (against more worse teams) and secure a ticket to a consecutive post-season (toilet) bowl game.