Tag: Chip Kelly

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly believes all schools should be like Notre Dame

Kelly believes that Notre Dame is ahead of the conference realignment curve

There has been a lot of chatter surrounding [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] and their continued independence while most conferences continue to add on schools.

One of those programs on the move is [autotag]UCLA[/autotag], who in 2024 will be making the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. Their football head coach [autotag]Chip Kelly[/autotag] has thoughts on conference realignment and believes that Notre Dame has it right, staying independent.

Kelly explained his rationale this way, by saying that the Irish model is one that should be adopted across college football.

Notre Dame is an independent in football, but they’re in a conference for everything else. Why aren’t we all independent for football? Take the 64 teams in Power Five and make that one division, take the 64 teams in Group of Five, make that another division. We play for a championship, they play for a championship and no one else gets affected. – Kelly

This makes plenty of sense, as the recent moves are all about football and not  the other sports. What about the non-revenue sports that will have to travel across the country while still trying to keep their education in focus?

Kelly makes an extremely valid point, just make this about football and keep the other sports as they are. It most likely won’t happen as he would like, but the idea makes plenty of sense and the Irish are ahead of the game.

Check out Notre Dame’s history vs. each current Pac-12 team including UCLA

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Chip Kelly is on a hotter seat than Lincoln Riley heading into UCLA-USC game

Buckle up, folks!

USC-UCLA game week is here, and the plot lines are numerous. One story will dominate all the others, however. Chip Kelly is very much on the hot seat at UCLA after an embarrassing 17-7 loss to a very undermanned Arizona State team on Saturday night. UCLA scoring only seven points in yet another brutal offensive performance is the ultimate humiliation. Doing so against an Arizona State team which has been badly shorthanded on the offensive line all season long is infinitely worse.

As you will be able to see below, UCLA fans have had it with Chip Kelly. Last year’s UCLA defense was terrible. This year’s UCLA offense is horrible. The Bruins are not a serious player in the Pac-12. Their future in the Big Ten does not look promising.

It’s not fun being a USC fan right now … except for being able to look over at UCLA and see that the situation there is actually worse.

If you think Lincoln Riley needs to be fired, stop. Chip Kelly is on a hotter seat at UCLA.

Let’s munch on some popcorn and take in the Bruin meltdown:

Series History: A look back at the history of Oregon vs. Cal

Series History: A look back at the history of Oregon vs. Cal

On Saturday, the No. 6 ranked Oregon Ducks will face off against the California Golden Bears. The Bears’ trajectory this season has been much different than Oregon’s. They are 3-5 and don’t have much hope for a bowl appearance whereas the Ducks are in a race for the College Football Playoff. Still, every game is just as important, and a win this weekend would be big for Oregon. In preparation for Saturday’s game, I looked back at the long and rich history of the series between these two teams.

This series is as deadlocked as it gets — historically that is. In recent years, the Golden Bears have struggled to maintain a good football program, which has allowed the Ducks to win 13 of the 15 matchups between the two teams.

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But all-time, the story is different. The Bears and the Ducks have played 83 times — with the first game dating all the way back to 1899. 42 of the games have gone to Oregon and the other 41, to Berkeley.

During the 2000s, this series was a marquee matchup each year, as both teams were perenially ranked in various polls. For the first part of the decade, Cal owned Oregon, winning 4 of the 5 games from 2004-2008. But, after Chip Kelly took over in 2009, the unranked Ducks beat the No. 6 Golden Bears 42-3, snapping Oregon’s losing streak. A year later in 2010, the No. 1 ranked Oregon would beat Cal on their way to the BCS National Championship game.

A game that longtime Duck fans won’t want to look back on was the 1993 matchup between the Ducks and the Bears. Deemed by Cal fans as the “Miracle at Memorial,” Oregon led 30-0 at halftime and ended up losing 42-41 after a Bears touchdown and a 2-point conversion on the game’s final drive.

Unlike in years past, Oregon vs. Cal isn’t a game most fans will have had circled on their schedule, but the Golden Bears shouldn’t be overlooked. Last week against USC, Cal put up nearly fifty points and almost beat the Trojans. In order to keep their season alive, it will be important for the Ducks to remain focused on the game ahead of them and not look ahead to USC on November 11th.

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Seahawks signing another offensive tackle off Buccaneers practice squad

Now we have word Seattle is also signing another tackle off the Buccaneers’ practice squad.

It’s not a great sign for Charles Cross and Abe Lucas’ chances of playing against the Lions on Sunday that the Seahawks have now signed three new offensive tackles since their two starters were injured last week against the Rams. Yesterday, the team announced that they have re-signed Greg Eiland and added 41-year old veteran Jason Peters to their practice squad.

Now we have word Seattle is also signing another tackle off the Buccaneers’ practice squad. According to Greg Auman, the Seahawks are signing undrafted rookie Raiqwon O’Neal.

Like rookie wide receiver Jake Bobo, O’Neal (6-foot-4, 305 pounds) played his college ball at elsewhere and then transferred to play under Chip Kelly at UCLA last season. He started 13 games at left tackle.

More Seahawks Wire stories

PFF grades for all 32 starting QBs Week 1

NFL Power Rankings going into Week 2

8 game clips that show how Rams won

5 teams who had an even-worse Week 1

UCLA coach Chip Kelly blasts new college football clock rules, draws strong reactions

Chip Kelly slammed the new clock rules and noted that more commercials are being added to ESPN broadcasts. Fans agree with him.

The new college football clock rules for 2023 are drawing a lot of attention. The biggest rule change for the new season is that the clock does not stop on a first down except in the final two minutes of each half. This is reducing the overall number of plays in a game, but not by dozens, only a handful of plays (at least through one week).

Nevertheless, some coaches do not like what they’re seeing. They want more plays from their offense so that they can control the ball more and dictate the tempo of a game to their liking. UCLA coach Chip Kelly definitely rates as a coach who wants his offense to log more plays so that it can wear down the opposition. The new clock rules work against that.

Kelly spoke forcefully against the new clock rules during halftime of UCLA’s 2023 season opener against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. The game was on ESPN, so Kelly knew he was talking to a central beneficiary of the rule change.

See what Kelly said. Then see how fans reacted:

Chip Kelly speaks movingly of his friend Bill McGovern at Pac-12 media day

‘If you want to touch the future, touch a person. That’s what Bill McGovern did.’ Chip Kelly spoke about his friend who recently died.

Pac-12 media day was dominated by the Pac-12 media rights story, which Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff handled poorly with his public remarks. Everyone wondered if the Pac-12 had privately arrived at a deal behind the scenes but wanted to wait to reveal it. Kliavkoff fended off that line of questioning from the assembled press in Las Vegas.

Pac-12 media rights questions overshadowed football, but there was still a lot of football to talk about. Players and coaches from the 12 different schools in the conference did a full range of media-scrum, side-session, and one-on-one interviews with various journalists, talk show hosts, and website publishers. How Pac-12 football teams stack up against each other was another central component of Friday’s events.

Then there was this very poignant moment, easily the most powerful of the whole day. UCLA coach Chip Kelly was deeply saddened by the death of his former defensive coordinator at UCLA, Bill McGovern. Kelly was profoundly touched by McGovern and wanted to make sure McGovern’s soulful life will be remembered.

Kelly, as relayed by UCLA commentator Tony Siracusa on a Trojans Wire special live show at The Voice of College Football, said this about McGovern:

“If you want to touch history, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a person. That’s what Bill McGovern did.”

It’s a very moving meditation on living a purpose-driven life and dealing with the very natural fear of death human beings have:

“Good people leave a mark on everybody’s heart.” 🕊️

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10 best head coaches in Eagles’ franchise history

We’re ranking the 10 best head coaches in Philadelphia Eagles franchise history ahead of 2023 training camp

Philadelphia has a storied NFL franchise, but the history of head coaches reads like a list of unfinished business and mediocre shelf lives.

One of the gold standard organizations in the league, the Eagles only have eight coaches to win a playoff game in franchise history, with Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni adding to the list over the past five years.

With training camp for 2023 fast approaching, we’re ranking the top ten head coaches in franchise history from top to bottom.

Our list includes coaches who coached at least 15 games as an Eagles head coach. In our book, wins and losses are essential, but not the only factor determining the ranking.

While Caleb Williams pursues 2nd Heisman, UCLA has a QB battle in Westwood

Chip Kelly should pick Dante Moore as his QB1, but that hasn’t happened just yet at UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins are heading into a big 2023 season. Many of their 2022 veterans, including their starting quarterback from the past five seasons, Dorian Thompson Robinson, are gone.

Ever since Chip Kelly took over as the head coach of the UCLA Bruins in 2018, he’s been able to rely on one man at quarterback: Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Now the Bruins will have three options to consider under center in 2023.

Ethan Garbers completed 70.3% of his passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions across six games in 2022 as a reserve. He will be looking to start Game 1 against Coastal Carolina at home.

True freshman quarterback Dante Moore, a five-star recruit from Michigan, became one of the Bruins’ highest-rated recruits ever when he shocked the college football world by switching his commitment from Oregon to UCLA on Dec. 19.

Kent State senior transfer Collin Schlee threw for 2,109 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions in the Mid-American Conference. He best fits somewhere between Moore’s gunslinging, playmaking style and Garbers’ game-managing, pocket-passer style.

All three candidates are intriguing, but Moore is the center of attention. Moore is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound dual-threat quarterback who led Martin Luther King (Michigan) to a state title earlier this month. In a four-year high school career as a starter, Moore threw for 135 total touchdowns and nearly 10,000 yards.

The other candidates on the outside looking in are former three-star Chase Griffin, a fifth-year senior who has attempted one pass in the last two seasons, and Justyn Martin, a former three-star from Inglewood High School (California).

Unlike crosstown rival USC, UCLA is in quarterback limbo. You could potentially see all three under center this season. Moore is the most talented of the trio for Kelly and he fits the system perfectly. Garbers is consistent and a veteran who can manage the game and minimize mistakes for the young Bruins.

Locked on UCLA host Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer believes the battle is already over, and that Kelly should make the freshman Moore the Week 1 starter.

“There’s no reason for UCLA not to start the freshman,” Anderson-Yoxsimer said. “In my mind, from the get go you throw the freshman out there and get his licks out early. It’s important for UCLA to see what they have with [Moore]. Why wait and waste reps?”

There is risk in starting a true freshman if he struggles and it affects his confidence, but it’s a decision that makes a lot of sense for Kelly to consider as we get into the late summer and closer to the start of the college football season.

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Pac-12 Preview: UCLA prepares for life after Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been the face of UCLA football for five years. Can the Bruins’ QB room find the same production in his wake?

As June starts to roll into July, and July eventually leads us to the start of fall camps at the beginning of August, the 2023 college football season will be here before we know it. What a season it projects to be in the Pac-12 Conference, as well. With a handful of College Football Playoff contenders, and a group of Heisman Trophy candidates leading their prospective teams, we could be set up for one of the best football seasons out west that we’ve seen in decades. To help get us prepared, we at Ducks Wire wanted to go through each team in the conference and give a comprehensive breakdown of each school, breaking down their 2023 outlook. Welcome to our Pac-12 Previews. New editions will be published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday leading up to the start of fall camp.

Check out our previously published previews: Arizona Wildcats — Arizona State Sun Devils — California Golden Bears — Colorado Buffaloes — Oregon State Beavers — Stanford Cardinal

As they enter their last season in the Pac-12, the UCLA Bruins definitely want to go out on a high note. They loaded up the roster with many transfers and having one of the top quarterback recruits in the Class of 2023 doesn’t hurt either. Dante Moore has some big shoes to fill with Dorian Thompson-Robinson no longer in Pasadena. But it’s likely going to take a while for that many newcomers to gel as a team.

UCLA was a mediocre team just three seasons ago and now they have the makings of being a top-five team in the conference. Unfortunately, teams like USC, Oregon, Washington, and Utah could stifle their chances at playing for a Pac-12 championship. Luckily, the Bruins don’t play the Huskies or the Ducks in the regular season.

Overall, UCLA is in for a good season and it could be special if the team gels quicker than expected. The talent is there. It’s just getting it done in between the hash marks.

Here is our full 2023 season previews for the Bruins.

Chip Kelly: Zach Charbonnet ‘one of the best practice players I’ve ever been around’

Let’s hear what his last coach thinks about him.

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The Seahawks picked another running back in the second round of the draft this year and word on the street is they considered picking UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet even earlier than they did. It’s not hard to see why head coach Pete Carroll is a fan of Charbonnet’s game. Let’s hear what his last coach thinks about him, though.

Here is what former Philadelphia Eagles and current UCLA head coach Chip Kelly had to say about Charbonnet’s practice habits and work ethic on Seattle Sports radio, according to Mike Dugar at the Athletic:

“He’s probably one of the best practice players I’ve ever been around… He may have been our best special teams practice player, and he never took a snap on special teams. But every day his approach to special teams practice was amazing. It’s just the type of kid he is. He knew that maybe he’s going to have to play (special) teams in the NFL, so he practiced his tail off.”

Kelly may not be the most reliable narrator in the sport, but we’ll take his word on this. Consider it more evidence that second-year back Ken Walker is one of the veterans who may see his starting spot get taken by a rookie this year.

Charbonnet isn’t the only player of Kelly’s that the Seahawks have added, either. Wide receiver Jake Bobo is one of the undrafted free agents that we are projecting to make the team’s initial 53-man roster.

Seahawks initial 53-man roster projection before OTAs