UCLA Football: 5 reasons to be optimistic about 2019 season

Chip Kelly and UCLA football’s 2018 season did not go as planned. However, there is plenty to be optimistic about going forward into 2019.

To say Chip Kelly’s first year as the head coach of the UCLA Bruins was a “letdown” would be an understatement. The Bruins went 3-9 on the year and came in third to last place in the Pac-12 conference.

Despite 2018 being a rough year for Kelly, and the program in general, there are a handful of reasons to be optimistic about the future.

5. Chip Kelly has had a full year of recruiting

Part of what made Chip Kelly so successful at Oregon was his ability to recruit the very best athletes up and down the West Coast of the United States — the vast majority of these recruits from the West Coast came from Southern California. Kelly’s relationships with high school coaches has proven to be quite useful this recruiting season, as UCLA found itself just outside the top 25 percent of recruiting rankings after National Signing Day.

Even since signing day, the Bruins scored big when the nation’s top fullback prospect de-committed from Army and signed with UCLA. Sitiveni Kaufusi, out of Honolulu, Hawaii, decided to join Chip Kelly’s squad, demonstrating how influential the head coach can be.

While UCLA will want to break into the top 20 next year in recruiting, Kelly is now truly able to begin building a team full of players that fit his model.