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UCLA Football: Chip Kelly brings “passion for the game” to Westwood

By Dana Becker

BUFFALO, NY - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Chip Kelly of the San Francisco 49ers watches his team warm up before the game against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on October 16, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Chip Kelly of the San Francisco 49ers watches his team warm up before the game against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on October 16, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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UCLA football has a new head coach, hiring Chip Kelly to try and turn the program back into a national title contender.

More: 5 Reasons Chip Kelly can return the Bruins to greatness

Dan Guerrero, UCLA’s Director of Athletics, confirmed a five-year deal with just over $23 million for the former Oregon coach on Saturday. Kelly will be introduced to the masses in Los Angeles on Monday.

Guerrero had this to say about Kelly’s hiring:

"I am thrilled to welcome Chip Kelly to Westwood. His success speaks for itself, but more than that, I firmly believe that his passion for the game and his innovative approach to coaching student-athletes make him the perfect fit for our program. ‘Champions Made Here’ is more than just a mantra at UCLA, and I’m confident that Chip will lead UCLA Football back to competing for championships. I’d like to thank Josh Rebholz, Casey Wasserman and Troy Aikman for their input during this process, as their candor, experience and support were invaluable."

Kelly left Oregon following a 46-7 run that included three Pac-12 titles for the NFL. He coached both the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers between 2013-16 before sitting out the past year to work in television.

“It is an absolute honor to join the Bruin family and I am grateful to Chancellor Block and to Dan Guerrero for this incredible opportunity,” Kelly said. “UCLA is a world-class institution with a distinguished history in athletics, and we will do our part to uphold its tradition of excellence.”

Kelly led the Ducks to a BCS game in all four of his seasons, including the national championship contest after the 2010 season. He won both the Rose and Fiesta Bowl.

When he was directing the ship at Oregon, Kelly had much success recruiting the West Coast, something he’ll do once more with UCLA. The current Bruin recruiting class features several big-name prospects including quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

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Jim Mora was fired as head coach at UCLA earlier this season. He went just 9-14 over the past two seasons, including a 5-12 mark in the league. Kelly will be tasked with building a national championship contending team in Los Angeles. Given the amount of success he’s already had in the college ranks the expectations for the Bruins are sky high.

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