Tag: Chip Kelly

Where Oregon football finished in every Associated Press poll since 2000

Where Duck football began and finished in every Associated Press poll since 2000.

Oregon Ducks football finishing in the Top 10 of the final Associated Press in becoming a regular thing nowadays. Believe it or not, it wasn’t always like that.

The Ducks were a pretty good team in the early part of this century, but it wasn’t until Chip Kelly took over the reins from Mike Bellotti that Oregon started to dominate the Pac-12 and be a force on the national scene.

Now it would be a huge disappointment if the Ducks didn’t finish in the AP Top 10 and win their bowl game. Both were accomplished this season and as the Ducks go into the Big Ten for 2024 and beyond, plus the expansion of the College Football Playoffs, there’s no reason not to expect Oregon not to be a playoff hopeful on a yearly basis.

We decided to look back on the history of Oregon football and see where the Ducks began and finished in each AP poll since 2000.

How Dan Lanning’s first two years compare to other Oregon Ducks head coaches

A look at how Oregon Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning’s resume through two years stacks up against past coaches in Eugene.

The second year of Dan Lanning’s tenure as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks has come to a close. He wrapped up his second year in emphatic fashion with a 45-6 win over the Liberty Flames in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Monday. With the win, Oregon improved to 12-2 on the season, and Lanning picked up the second bowl game victory of his career.

While it’s impossible to perfectly compare coaches throughout the years because of the constantly changing landscape in the world of college football, what we’ve seen from Lanning so far has been impressive, to say the least, and has him up there with some of the best coaches that Oregon has seen over the last several decades.

Now that we have a two-year sample size to go off of, this felt like a great time to see how Lanning’s accolades from the past two years stack up compared to other coaches of the modern era who have come through the Ducks’ program, potentially look at what it might portend for the future.

CHIP KELLY RETAINED BY UCLA THANKS TO BLOWOUT WIN OVER USC AND LINCOLN RILEY

Chip Kelly was in huge trouble after the ASU loss. UCLA also face-planted vs Cal. The win over #USC saved Chip. That’s a fact.

Oh my goodness. When UCLA lost 33-7 to lowly Cal on Saturday, it seemed that any of the goodwill Chip Kelly had built at UCLA through the win over USC had been squandered. He was back on the hot seat. He undermined confidence in the UCLA fan base. He and his program looked weak and inconsistent. It seemed the pendulum had swung back the other way. He saved his job, and then Chip Kelly reversed himself and did a complete 180. He appeared to be in major trouble once again.

Monday afternoon, the word came down: Chip will get one more season in Westwood.

It might not rate as a huge surprise, but at the very least, it seems like a 50-50 call, something which was far from likely. Chip Kelly’s fate was up in the air, but now he’s safe for one more year. Chip Kelly will lead UCLA into the Big Ten in 2024, per 247Sports.

Reaction was instant and lively, from UCLA fans and elsewhere in the Pac-12 world and throughout the college football community:

UCLA humiliates USC, gets crushed by Cal one week after destroying Trojans

UCLA played total stinkers vs ASU and Cal, but dominated USC in between. The Bruins made the Trojans look bad.

You really cannot make this stuff up. It’s a script too crazy to imagine on your own. The UCLA Bruins scored just seven points against Arizona State a few weeks ago at home. Arizona State entered that game with only two twins. Then the Bruins absolutely demolished USC by 18 points in the Coliseum, looking like a juggernaut. So, you would naturally think the Bruins would then handle Cal, a 5-6 team which has been below average for most of the year.

The Bruins instead got dominated from start to finish in a 33-7 loss which has Chip Kelly back on the hot seat.

UCLA might have gotten its own coach fired while also making USC look far worse than last week’s blowout suggested. If UCLA wanted to humiliate its rival one more time, it succeeded.

Reaction poured in late Saturday night in Los Angeles and elsewhere:

College Football Week 12 Winners and Losers: Washington passes a major test, circling back on Deion Sanders and Colorado

Washington kept its undefeated record intact in the best game of the day, outlasting Oregon State in a torrential downpour in Corvallis.

Rivalry Week is upon us, and the College Football Playoff race remains relatively wide open with one game remaining in the regular season.

Week 12 has historically been something of a calm before the storm, especially in the SEC, where most teams played either a Group of Five or FCS opponents. That proved to be the case this season, as well, though there were a few exceptions.

Washington and Oregon State played the game of the day as the Huskies kept their undefeated record intact with a two-point road win in a torrential downpour in Corvallis.

Otherwise, it was a mostly chalky week as we prepare for a pivotal Rivalry Week slate headlined by a top-three matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State in the Big House with a Big Ten East title and likely playoff spot on the line.

Before we get to what should be another classic in that series, here are the winners and losers from the penultimate week of the regular season.

Chip Kelly blasts Lincoln Riley and USC, waits to see if UCLA will retain him for 2024

Chip Kelly is back for 2024? We don’t know yet (as of Saturday night), but the odds are certainly much greater now.

What a turn of events this was.

Chip Kelly put himself squarely on the hot seat at UCLA by losing 17-7 to an undermanned 2-7 Arizona State team. UCLA could not have played any worse on offense than it did last week versus the Sun Devils. Kelly, whose 2022 UCLA team similarly stepped on a rake in a November home game versus Arizona, once again coughed up a game it had no business losing. That’s the kind of loss that gets a coach fired, especially when he hasn’t won a Pac-12 title or made a Pac-12 Championship game in several seasons at UCLA.

The word on the street this past week was that if UCLA lost to USC, Chip Kelly was gone. Even if he won, insiders weren’t convinced he would be retained. However, late in the week — just 30 hours before kickoff — some UCLA power brokers spoke up about Kelly in a way that suggested he might be brought back for 2024.

After Kelly’s emphatic dismantling of USC and Lincoln Riley, the odds have certainly shifted toward retention. However, we haven’t received any final word or formal announcement from UCLA or its sources. This will be interesting to watch in the next 24 hours. We will keep you posted.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire and Ducks Wire.

Dan Mullen questioned if Lincoln Riley should be on the hot seat after UCLA loss

Dan Mullen thinks Lincoln Riley could be on the hot seat.

A coach who knows what it’s like to be on the hot seat has openly wondered if another coach should be on the hot seat.

Former Florida coach Dan Mullen, who now works with ESPN as a football analyst, questioned on social media Saturday if USC football coach Lincoln Riley should be on the hot seat for the Trojans’ disappointing season.

We say “disappointing” because what’s likely the last season for Caleb Williams at the school was largely undone due to poor defense.

Former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has already been fired this season, and now Mullen is questioning if Riley should be next instead of UCLA coach Chip Kelly, who has also been feeling the heat lately.

Okay, while there is an unavoidable irony in a fired coach wondering if another coach should be fired, it doesn’t take away from the frustration USC fans must be feeling after losing 38-20 to UCLA and closing out a letdown season.

While Riley is very unlikely to lose his job after this season, someone like Mullen openly wondering if he should can’t be ignored.

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If Chip Kelly is fired at UCLA, Bruins and Trojans will both have coaching openings

If Chip Kelly gets fired, UCLA will have to think about how to battle USC and everyone else in the Big Ten with a new coach.

According to a report by 247Sports, the expectation around the UCLA program is that head coach Chip Kelly will be fired.

“I think I’ve done great,” Kelly said.

The statement came following a question about the coach’s near six-year tenure as the leader of UCLA’s football program. Despite the fact that the USC game is just days away, a majority of Kelly’s time with media this week is being spent answering questions about the past.

If Kelly is fired, USC and UCLA will both have major job openings — USC at defensive coordinator, UCLA at head coach and, by extension, every position on staff.

It’s worth exploring which candidates UCLA should consider. Let’s take an early look, reminding ourselves that if USC beats UCLA, Kelly’s firing is guaranteed. If UCLA pulls the upset, Kelly might have a slight chance of saving his job at the 11th hour.

Chip Kelly’s potential ouster at UCLA could lead to major opportunity for Dan Lanning’s Ducks

With news that Chip Kelly may be fired at UCLA, the Oregon Ducks have a major opportunity to benefit when it comes to the transfer portal.

A new report on Tuesday afternoon indicated the UCLA Bruins could be close to firing head coach Chip Kelly, potentially as soon as after this week’s game against the rival USC Trojans.

If you’ve been paying attention to college football this season, that shouldn’t come as a major surprise. The Bruins have had a rough 2023 after a solid start. They go into Week 12 6-4 overall and 3-4 in conference play. With losses to Utah, Oregon State, Arizona and an embarrassing loss to Arizona State this past week, it’s clear UCLA has subverted expectations this year.

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For the Oregon Ducks, that could become a benefit, particularly when it comes to the players who transfer out of the program with a change in the coaching staff.

The most notable of those players is quarterback Dante Moore, a former five-star who was committed to the Ducks before offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left Eugene to take over as the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. Moore was the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2023 and the No. 3 overall quarterback in the class. So far this season, he has played in eight games, completing 91 of his 175 passing attempts for 1,344 yards, 10 TDs and 7 INTs.

Whether you want to argue he was thrown into the fire too quickly as a true freshman or he is not living up to expectations is a conversation we can have. The more pertinent topic is whether Moore would choose to stick around in Los Angeles without the coaching staff that recruited him.

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Should he choose to enter the transfer portal, you have to imagine the former five-star would give a serious look to Oregon, a team that has arguably the best offense in the nation under offensive coordinator Will Stein. Moore also has a previous relationship with head coach Dan Lanning.

After this year, Bo Nix will be headed off to the NFL. While former five-star recruit Ty Thompson is next in line to take over as the starting QB in 2024, the Ducks are expected to bring in a transfer portal player to compete for the job.

Could that transfer be Moore? We certainly will have to wait and see, but the report of Kelly potentially being out at UCLA makes it seem like more of a possibility.

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Report: UCLA close to dismissing Chip Kelly as head coach of the Bruins

Are we going to add to the coaching carousel as it picks up speed?

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.