UCLA football has hired Chip Kelly as their new head coach. Could he be the man to return the Bruins to national prominence?
UCLA football landed a massive addition to the program by bringing in Chip Kelly to replace former head coach Jim Mora. The former Oregon Ducks, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles head coach should be a perfect fit with the Bruins.
Mora does not leave him with much, though, considering Josh Rosen should depart early for the 2018 NFL Draft. Rosen was the heart and soul of this UCLA squad this year and the team needs to rebuild around a new quarterback. He did not have much help around him in his final season.
Kelly was brought into UCLA on a five-year contract worth $4 million each season. The other team in competition for Kelly was the Florida Gators. Yet, Florida has a lot more pressure tied to the program to win immediately, playing in the SEC East. The Gators already parted with a respectable head coach this year when Jim McElwain left the program.
However, Kelly has the ability to immediately make the Bruins better. Mora spent six full seasons with the Bruins, but steadily went downhill after the 2014 campaign. He notched one nine win season, and two with 10 wins from 2012-2014. Yet, Mora won eight, four, and five games in his final three years.
UCLA is bowl eligible after defeating the Cal Golden Bears in Week 13. The Bruins nearly took down the USC Trojans in the biggest rivalry game of the season in Week 12. Bringing in Kelly could help the Bruins against the Trojans moving forward.
Here’s five reasons Chip Kelly will lead the UCLA Bruins back to greatness.
5. Clear path to PAC-12 Championship Game
The PAC-12 South was one of the easiest divisions among the Power Five conferences this year. USC had quarterback Khalil Tate and the Arizona Wildcats to get past to make it to the PAC-12 Championship Game. USC is will play either the Stanford or Washington State Cougars.
Yet, the PAC-12 has sent two teams to the College Football Playoff over a three-year span. One of those teams was an Oregon squad filled with talent that Kelly recruited, including Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota.
If Kelly is able to unseat the Trojans in the PAC-12 South, UCLA has a clear path to the PAC-12 Championship Game. Washington was able to make the Playoff last season by winning the conference title with only one loss through the end of the regular season.
Oregon also won the PAC-12 with Kelly at the helm in 2011, over the team he is now coaching in UCLA. Kelly’s experienced and coaching ability that he brings to the table makes UCLA a real contender for the PAC-12 Championship already in 2018.
4. Kelly has already had success in the PAC-12
The worst season that Kelly had with Oregon was a 10-3 result in his first year with the program. Every year after that saw him win at least 12 games. He also led the Ducks to at least an appearance in a BCS Bowl in all four seasons in Eugene.
Kelly knows what it takes to win in the PAC-12, and he’s not too far removed from that success before he left the Ducks in 2012. He can implement his scheme and culture without a problem since he’s returning to the same conference just five years later.
Oregon even made an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game in 2010, before losing to Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers. The other three BCS Bowls that the Ducks went to resulted in two wins in the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl and one loss in another Rose Bowl.
It should not take too long for Kelly to find his groove again while coaching in the PAC-12. He found immediate success with Oregon and should be able to replicate that with a UCLA team that has had some success in the last five years under Mora.
3. Recruiting resources in Southern California
USC and UCLA both compete for some of the best recruits that the state of California has to offer. Those are the two premier destinations for four and five-star recruits in the state. The recruiting impact that Kelly will bring is going to be massive.
UCLA has already put together the No. 13 recruiting class in the country for the 2018 cycle, according to 247Sports. That includes six four-star recruits that will bring a quick boost on both sides of the ball.
Any recruits that might have been on edge about committing to UCLA should give that decision a second thought now. He’s going to have a Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and Urban Meyer at Ohio State type of effect with the Bruins.
While Kelly does have a very specific style on offense, Mora did run a high-powered scheme that can translate easily into what he’ll be looking to do. He won’t have to shake up the current recruiting class that much. Overall, Southern California is a hotbed for recruiting and Kelly will take advantage of that fast.
2. Offensive scheme fits great with UCLA
The West Coast offense is something that has taken full effect in the PAC-12. Washington State, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona State, etc. all run up tempo offenses that go as fast as Kelly did in his time with the Ducks.
Kelly’s offensive style did not work out great in the NFL with the Eagles or 49ers, but the spread option is not meant for the pros. What he did with Oregon was the perfect offense for the PAC-12 and college football in general.
We’ll see what happens with UCLA during the first few games of the 2018 campaign. Rosen ran this offense efficiently, but he did not have a coach like Kelly running things. That should have a bigger effect than Rosen did as the heart and soul of the offense.
The spread option is something that a former UCLA quarterback like Brett Hundley would have run well. And, Hundley had success with this offense running it up tempo and with a dual-threat style. History shows that Kelly’s playbook will find success with the Bruins.
1. Dorian Thompson-Robinson matches the Chip Kelly offense
With Rosen departing UCLA after the 2017 campaign, Kelly gets a replacement in the 2018 recruiting class with four-star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Not only is Thompson-Robinson the top recruit in his class, he’s the fourth best dual-threat quarterback in the nation.
The Bishop-Gorman star hails from Las Vegas, NV, and will not be far from home with UCLA. Thompson-Robinson had more than 25 offers from top-notch programs like the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida State Seminoles.
It says a lot about how much Thompson-Robinson believes in what UCLA has to offer when he chose the Bruins over so many blue blood programs. Kelly truly has something special on his hands with this talented dual-threat quarterback.
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Yet, Thompson-Robinson is not the only option that Kelly has to work with at quarterback. Former four-star recruit and pro-style quarterback Devon Modster will be in his redshirt sophomore season and also gives Kelly a solid option to choose from.