The UCLA football program is currently a dumpster fire and getting worse. Coach Kelly (who Troy Aikman got involved in the decision to hire him in the first place) has been an absolute flop. There are zero (national or even Pac-12) championship hopes possible with this coach at UCLA. His weak non-conference schedule this season was intended to cover up for his equally weak roster. And even if the students had been on campus, the Rose Bowl would still be mostly empty, with the administration trying to come up with useless incentives to fill more seats. Haven't felt this negative about a UCLA coach since Alford...
Unfortunately, there is no excitement left in year 5 of Chip Kelly's tenure which is leading to the attendance drop. The fan base was told to give Chip time to develop players and to be patient. I think the fanbase has been extremely patient and the result on the field is the team he has "recruited" and developed. This seems like the best Chip can do here. I was at Saturday's game (my cousin had a ticket for me) and it was not a lot of fun to watch live.
I will admit I was so happy when the school initally hired Chip. I thought we were going to be off and running like USC is this year with Lincoln. Time to reset, the school, players/students and fans deserve better.
I commented this in another threat about Mora having better attendance than Chip. The average fan doesn't know Chip from Mora and doesn't care about the coach. They care about whether we are competitive. Mora had Hundley and when he left tha transitioned right into Rosen. Jonathan Franklin turned into Paul Perkins, and we had some great tight ends and good receivers too. Those were fun teams, even if not very good. Always felt we had a chance Hundley or Rosen could go off and light up a top 10 team. Don't have that same feeling with DTR or any of the other players Chip has recruited.
I had high hopes for DTR this year. Thought the free year of eligibility would give him a huge edge experience wise. But this is his ceiling. He's an average college QB with who has the ability to make things happen with his legs. Yawn. What we have on the roster is not going go be an upgrade next year either.
This is a 2-10 or 3-9 team that will go 6-6 or 7-5 due to the weak schedule. Kelly has been terrible at talent acquisition. Who has he recruited out of HS that is a star? DTR was Mora. Kaz Allen is Kelly, but as well as heās played this year I donāt think heās headline material. As Dimitri has pointed out, the portal is full of good G5 players, or ok P5 players, but not a lot of true stars. We really need a reset, and the next coach will have to recruit his @$$ off. Iām hoping the finances allow us to ditch Kelly this year. Anyone know what the buyout is now? Also, I think Kelly is a great offensive mind, he just doesnāt have the attitude or mentality to be a HC, especially when it comes to recruiting.
Great article, DD. Attendance is such a complicated issue with so many factors playing a role these days that it seems nearly impossible to fix in its current setting. Thankfully, Guerrero signed a mere 30 year lease with the Rose Bowl, so maybe we can expect something better in 2042. FML.
I've been banging the drum for an on campus stadium since that original BN article in 2011 https://www.bruinsnation.com/2011/11/17/2521154/attention-dan-guerreros-replacement-fix-uclas-football-facilities-Part-5 It's a shame that the old BN comments are gone because there was overwhelming support for the principle, if not for overcoming the actual logistics necessary to make it happen. There were the usual confederacy of intellectually lazy and closed minded people who whined about parking and traffic and tailgating space and the ridiculous NIMBYs with their sightlines and said it will never happen. Saying "no" and then doing nothing is such an easy road.
And I agree that it will probably never happen but that is only because the massive institutional support, which has never been U.C.L.A.'s strong point unless it involves a money-making hotel apparently, won't overcome the roadblocks. Maybe Troy's tweet lights a fire though. And could you imagine how great it would be if it did...? Think of the potential. Think of the campus spirit. Think of a full stadium on Saturdays. Think of the the game day environment. Think of the revenue. Think of the identity.
Chip gotta go the sooner the better. Time to face the music. With this schedule anything less than 10 wins is a fail.
The UCLA football program is currently a dumpster fire and getting worse. Coach Kelly (who Troy Aikman got involved in the decision to hire him in the first place) has been an absolute flop. There are zero (national or even Pac-12) championship hopes possible with this coach at UCLA. His weak non-conference schedule this season was intended to cover up for his equally weak roster. And even if the students had been on campus, the Rose Bowl would still be mostly empty, with the administration trying to come up with useless incentives to fill more seats. Haven't felt this negative about a UCLA coach since Alford...
Unfortunately, there is no excitement left in year 5 of Chip Kelly's tenure which is leading to the attendance drop. The fan base was told to give Chip time to develop players and to be patient. I think the fanbase has been extremely patient and the result on the field is the team he has "recruited" and developed. This seems like the best Chip can do here. I was at Saturday's game (my cousin had a ticket for me) and it was not a lot of fun to watch live.
I will admit I was so happy when the school initally hired Chip. I thought we were going to be off and running like USC is this year with Lincoln. Time to reset, the school, players/students and fans deserve better.
Wasn't Trying on the Search Committee that honed in on this imposter despite all of the red flags?
I commented this in another threat about Mora having better attendance than Chip. The average fan doesn't know Chip from Mora and doesn't care about the coach. They care about whether we are competitive. Mora had Hundley and when he left tha transitioned right into Rosen. Jonathan Franklin turned into Paul Perkins, and we had some great tight ends and good receivers too. Those were fun teams, even if not very good. Always felt we had a chance Hundley or Rosen could go off and light up a top 10 team. Don't have that same feeling with DTR or any of the other players Chip has recruited.
I had high hopes for DTR this year. Thought the free year of eligibility would give him a huge edge experience wise. But this is his ceiling. He's an average college QB with who has the ability to make things happen with his legs. Yawn. What we have on the roster is not going go be an upgrade next year either.
This is a 2-10 or 3-9 team that will go 6-6 or 7-5 due to the weak schedule. Kelly has been terrible at talent acquisition. Who has he recruited out of HS that is a star? DTR was Mora. Kaz Allen is Kelly, but as well as heās played this year I donāt think heās headline material. As Dimitri has pointed out, the portal is full of good G5 players, or ok P5 players, but not a lot of true stars. We really need a reset, and the next coach will have to recruit his @$$ off. Iām hoping the finances allow us to ditch Kelly this year. Anyone know what the buyout is now? Also, I think Kelly is a great offensive mind, he just doesnāt have the attitude or mentality to be a HC, especially when it comes to recruiting.
Great article, DD. Attendance is such a complicated issue with so many factors playing a role these days that it seems nearly impossible to fix in its current setting. Thankfully, Guerrero signed a mere 30 year lease with the Rose Bowl, so maybe we can expect something better in 2042. FML.
I've been banging the drum for an on campus stadium since that original BN article in 2011 https://www.bruinsnation.com/2011/11/17/2521154/attention-dan-guerreros-replacement-fix-uclas-football-facilities-Part-5 It's a shame that the old BN comments are gone because there was overwhelming support for the principle, if not for overcoming the actual logistics necessary to make it happen. There were the usual confederacy of intellectually lazy and closed minded people who whined about parking and traffic and tailgating space and the ridiculous NIMBYs with their sightlines and said it will never happen. Saying "no" and then doing nothing is such an easy road.
And I agree that it will probably never happen but that is only because the massive institutional support, which has never been U.C.L.A.'s strong point unless it involves a money-making hotel apparently, won't overcome the roadblocks. Maybe Troy's tweet lights a fire though. And could you imagine how great it would be if it did...? Think of the potential. Think of the campus spirit. Think of a full stadium on Saturdays. Think of the the game day environment. Think of the revenue. Think of the identity.
Yup. there's always hope....
And isn't that a microcosm of U.C.L.A. Football?