It’s still true: UCLA doesn’t fire football coaches when they beat USC.
But sometimes they leave – and Chip Kelly is outta here.
And the marching band plays “Hallelujah.”
Fed-up Bruins fans were fired up Friday when they learned that Kelly had finally found an out after weeks of less-than-secretive interviews elsewhere.
Kelly’s UCLA tenure was capped by a win in the L.A. Bowl, but before that, by late-season losses to Arizona, Arizona State and Cal, by five-star freshman quarterback Dante Moore’s transfer to Oregon, and by an exodus of coaches, including first-year star defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to USC. Also, by much of the Bruins fan base making it clear Kelly wasn’t wanted, including flying a banner plane over practice indicating as much.
Plane flying over Wasserman Center with a banner that reads: Read The Room: Fire Chip Kelly. pic.twitter.com/Jet0YtHYLs
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) November 28, 2023
In the end, he accepted a demotion, technically, in the form of the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State, walking away from a $6 million salary to coach under his longtime pal Ryan Day.
And how thrilled were Bruins supporters by the news? So very, even though Kelly’s departure comes at a rotten time, just months – actually 174 days, according to Athletic Director Martin Jarmond’s countdown – before the Bruins’ first foray into the Big Ten.
How thrilled? Incredibly, never mind that it’s finally happening as the coaching candidate carousel has slowed to a crawl, Kelly’s eventual repayment for the public support shown to him by Jarmond and other UCLA decision-makers.
How enthused? Mightily, never mind how poorly it portrays UCLA’s football program or the fact that every Bruins player will now have a 30-day window, regardless of transfer history, to consider bolting for what he believes could be a better situation.
Take all those issues into account and still, UCLA fans are elated to be moving…
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