The UCLA football program has seen constant change among its coaching staff since the conclusion of the 2023 season, but the biggest departure could still be in the works.
Kelly was immediately reported as a potential candidate for the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator job, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, after the NFL team hired Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as its next head coach Thursday.
Former Long Beach Poly head coach Antonio Pierce and the Las Vegas Raiders interviewed Kelly twice for their vacant offensive coordinator job, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Kelly did not get the job as the Raiders are expected to land USC analyst Kliff Kingsbury for the role.
Kelly has four years of NFL head coaching experience, having previously coached for the Philadelphia Eagles (2013-2015) and the San Francisco 49ers (2016).
While Kelly’s future in Westwood remains uncertain, he’s continued to recruit at various high schools over the past two weeks and spotted in various photographs on social media with players or coaches thanking him for stopping by their respective schools to visit.
If Kelly remains at UCLA, he’ll have to hire a new tight ends coach and several analysts.
Kelly’s staff has two more vacancies after defensive analyst Greg Burns and recruiting analyst Josh Irvin were announced as new hires at San Jose State on Thursday. The duo follows Ken Niumatalolo, who had been hired by Kelly to become the Bruins’ tight ends coach in early January but had moved on to become San Jose’s head coach in recent weeks, replacing UCLA alumnus Brent Brennan.
Burns left the Bruins after three seasons to coach San Jose’s cornerbacks. Irvin, who arrived at UCLA in 2022, will return to San Jose to coach the outside linebackers. Irvin was a defensive graduate assistant and defensive quality control coach for the Spartans from 2015-2018.
Director of player personnel Ethan Young has served as an on-the-road…
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