The coaching carousel is reaching maximum spin status with announcements of Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Boise State all making changes at head coach of their football programs. It appears that we can soon add UCLA to that list of openings.
According to a recent report from Bruin Report Online, the school will likely fire Chip Kelly ahead of their move to the Big Ten starting in 2024. Kelly took over as head coach in 2018 and he has been a middling coach in his return to the Pac-12. He is just 33-33 during those six seasons. A far cry from the 46-7 run he enjoyed in four seasons at Oregon before leaving for the NFL.
The Bruins have suffered back-to-back losses to Arizona and Arizona State. Neither Dante Moore Jr nor Ethan Garbers were under center in the 17-7 loss to the Sun Devils. According to the USA TODAY Sports coaches salary database, Kelly is owed a buyout of almost $9 million.
This would make the third program that will have a new head coach when the Big Ten kicks off the 2024 season. UCLA would join Michigan State and Northwestern in that regard. Whoever takes over this program could have a five-star quarterback should he not choose to enter the transfer portal.
Players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal following the firing of a head coach per NCAA rules.