Tag: Chip Kelly

This Ohio State coaching hire named by 247Sports at top of offseason

The Buckeyes hit a home run with this coordinator hire. #GoBucks

This offseason has seen Ohio State football taking it personally. Multiple high-profile transfers, coaching changes and the signing of a top-five class highlighted by the No. 1 player in the country, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

One of those coaching hires Ryan Day made was at offensive coordinator with Bill O’Brien. The Boston native didn’t stay long as the ultimately took the head coaching position at Boston College.

Day had a backup plan and quickly moved on, hiring UCLA head coach [autotag]Chip Kelly[/autotag] to replace O’Brien. That move topped 247Sports list of coordinator hires of the offseason, as Cody Nagle described him as “one of the best offensive minds in the sport.”

The hiring of Kelly was universally praised and this just adds onto that. Day deserves a lot of credit by not having a long search and making an extremely quick decision to hire his former offensive coordinator when he was the quarterback at New Hampshire.

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UCLA AD Martin Jarmond skirts Chip Kelly question at DeShaun Foster presser

Martin Jarmond refused to answer a question about Chip Kelly at DeShaun Foster’s press conference. Well done.

To say Chip Kelly’s tenure ended poorly in Westwood with UCLA would be an understatement.

After six seasons with the Bruins, posting a 35-34 record, Kelly left UCLA for the Ohio State offensive coordinator position. Returning to the college game after a stint in the NFL, many believed Kelly would be able to turn the program around. And while the Bruins did see steady improvement in the wins and losses column as he continued coaching the Bruins, recruiting, and success in the Pac-12 never amounted to that of what Kelly enjoyed at Oregon.

At new head coach DeShaun Forest’s press conference, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond skirted questions surrounding Kelly’s exit.

Leaving it simply at, “Today is about DeShaun and moving forward,” Jarmond’s comments revealed that Kelly’s departure was anything but pleasant.

But Jarmond had a point. The future of UCLA football begins by letting go of the past. Playing in the newly loaded BIG 10, it will be an uphill climb for the Bruins to find their foothold in the conference.

And the best way to keep moving forward is often not to look back.

Dwindling NFL opportunities likely led to Chip Kelly going to Ohio State

Chip Kelly’s NFL options dwindled. Instead, he went to Ohio State. Maybe he will return to the NFL one day.

Former USC Trojans’ offensive analyst and Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has found a home again in the NFL.

With Bruins’ head coach Chip Kelly potentially eying an NFL return, the Las Vegas Raiders presented the best last option for him to make the jump to the big leagues before this season begins. However, it was too late.

Nonetheless, Chip Kelly decided to join Ryan Day at Ohio State as the OC, moving from one Big Ten program (soon, at least) to another.

Prior to Kingsbury’s hire, Kelly’s name was floated as a potential fit in Washington and Las Vegas. But when Kingsbury wiggled out of his pending deal with Las Vegas, he opted for the other remaining vacancy with the Commanders, who hold the #2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Having interviewed twice with the Raiders so far, following Kingsbury’s departure, Kelly’s name likely re-entered the fold with the Seattle Seahawks as well, but he ultimately chose to go to Columbus. Or, maybe he got passed over for the Seahawks job.

 

Given the Bruins’ change in conference to the BIG 10 and a near-dead-even .500 record (35-34) since Kelly’s hire back in 2018, perhaps the time was now for a coaching change at UCLA.

His departure comes with all kinds of obstacles, and Bill Plaschke, Dan Wolken, and many others weren’t entirely thrilled at the timing of the move.

UCLA fills head coach vacancy

Big Ten coaching news:

UCLA is hiring running backs coach Deshaun Foster to be the school’s next head coach, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The school’s head coach job became vacant when Chip Kelly left to take the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State. The coaching carousel musical chairs are complicated. Kelly took Bill O’Brien’s position at Ohio State, which he held for three weeks before leaving for the Boston College vacancy. That vacancy at BC was open because former head coach Jeff Hafley took the defensive coordinator job with the Green Bay Packers.

Related: Win totals released for Wisconsin, every Big Ten team in 2024 football season

The chain of events are complicated, but they’ve led to Foster getting the UCLA job.

Foster was a second-round pick out of UCLA in the 2002 NFL draft. He played in the league for seven years, six with the Carolina Panthers (2002-2007) and one with the San Francisco 49ers (2008).

Related: Social media roasted a Wisconsin legend during the Super Bowl broadcast

The young coach began his coaching career at UCLA as a graduate assistant in 2014. He spent 2016 as running backs coach at Texas Tech before returning to UCLA, where he has been the running backs coach since 2017.

Kelly, meanwhile, was on thin ice throughout last season and had been seeking NFL coordinator jobs for weeks. His move to Ohio State shouldn’t have surprised anybody.

The Bruins will rely on Foster, someone with zero head coaching experience, to guide the program into the new era of the Big Ten.

Who is DeShaun Foster, the former UCLA running back just hired as the head coach of the Bruins?

DeShaun Foster played seven years in the NFL and is a longtime assistant coach.

After former head coach Chip Kelly left UCLA to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, the Bruins have already found his replacement.

The athletic department has hired DeShaun Foster, a former UCLA running back who attended the university between 1998 and 2001. He was selected in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft and played in the pros until 2008.

Here is more from UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond:

“While undergoing a comprehensive search for our new head coach, DeShaun resonated from the start and throughout the whole process,” said Jarmond. “We are looking for a coach with integrity, energy and passion; someone who is a great teacher, who develops young men, is a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape to help our student-athletes. DeShaun checks all of those boxes and then some. He is a leader of men and a true Bruin. I am excited to partner with him as we usher UCLA Football into an exciting new era.”

After playing for the Carolina Panthers and briefly the San Francisco 49ers, Foster eventually found his way into coaching. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at UCLA in 2013 and he then became a graduate assistant the following year. He served as the director of player development and high school relations in 2015.

Foster briefly left UCLA for Texas Tech (where he was the running backs coach in 2016) before he was offered the same position with the Bruins a year later in 2017.

He remained with the program (becoming associate head coach of the team under Kelly last season) until he briefly accepted a position as running backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Even though the former UCLA star had just left the school for the NFL, we recently mentioned Foster as a potential candidate to replace Kelly. He was able to separate himself from a pool of 11 other candidates, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Foster was the “overwhelming choice of the current players” as the top pick to replace Kelly, according to Thamel.

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Trojans Wire Q&A after Chip Kelly exit, UCLA coaching search

We did a Q&A with Trojans Wire to answer questions amid the UCLA coaching search.

The UCLA Bruins are in the thick of a coaching search after Chip Kelly’s surprising exit to take the OC job at Ohio State.

The USC Trojans recently did a coaching search a couple of years ago, hiring Lincoln Riley after firing Clay Helton. So, we decided to do a short Q&A with Matt Zemek, site editor of Trojans Wire.

Many things were discussed: Who would’ve replaced Chip Kelly, what fans want for the Bruins, and much more. Matt Zemek answered all of these questions (as did I).

Here is a deep dive into the Q&A with Trojans Wire site editor Matt Zemek:

Dan Wolken questions UCLA’s messy future after Chip Kelly’s departure

Dan Wolken has lots of questions on UCLA after Chip Kelly left for Ohio State.

The UCLA Bruins football head coaching job is open in the middle of February. Chip Kelly’s abrupt departure to become the OC at Ohio State did not go over well with the fan base.

All of a sudden, Martin Jarmond has to find a new head coach after the portal has closed and after the top candidates have already been hired elsewhere.

It’s a tough task, but Dan Wolken of USA Today brings up some excellent points: There are some questions to be answered about how good this job is:

And any candidate for UCLA should have some serious questions about why Kelly, who had four years and more than $24 million left on his contract, would take a pay cut to go be a college coordinator.

Is the roster really that bad? Does UCLA just not care that much about competing at the highest level in football? Is the school’s NIL program so lackluster that it’s impossible to recruit?

While it’s fair to say that Kelly was a massive disappointment on the field and that UCLA probably should have fired him two months ago, it’s also quite a slap in the face to watch him walk out the door for a college coordinator job. When UCLA has a head coach opening, it is supposed to be looking at assistants from places like Ohio State, not the other way around.

It’s a valid point from Wolken. Does UCLA care? Is NIL sustainable in Westwood? Is there some underlying thing nobody knows about?

Either way, UCLA has a tough task ahead.

Q and A with UCLA Wire about Chip Kelly’s exit, new football coaching search, and more

Let’s see what UCLA Wire’s editor thinks about Chip Kelly and the Bruins’ head coaching search.

We have been here at Trojans Wire for several years. I have personally been on the job as Trojans Wire editor since early March of 2020, so I am approaching four years in this position. UCLA Wire is just a few weeks old. Former Trojans Wire staff writer Matt Wadleigh is the first site editor at UCLA Wire.

Matt Wadleigh helped us cover the Clay Helton firing and the coaching search which led to Lincoln Riley in the fall of 2021. He is now covering a coaching search at UCLA in his new role at UCLA Wire.

It was a natural and obvious choice to ask Matt about the Chip Kelly departure for Ohio State, the UCLA head coaching search, and other related topics.

D’Anton Lynn saw a sinking ship at UCLA, which is why he won’t replace Chip Kelly

D’Anton Lynn wanted out at UCLA. Don’t expect him to go back to the Bruins. Not happening.

D’Anton Lynn, if he had not left UCLA for the USC defensive coordinator job, might have been in line to replace Chip Kelly. It’s a very interesting “what if” to consider after Kelly left to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Lynn had to have known that Chip Kelly was not particularly happy or comfortable at UCLA. He could have played the long game, betting on the eventuality that Kelly would not stay at UCLA too much longer, maybe the 2024 season at most.

No one could have predicted that after UCLA refused to fire Kelly in November and December, Kelly would walk away voluntarily in February for a coordinator job. Lynn couldn’t have known that. He could have guessed, however, that Kelly was not going to coach UCLA beyond 2024. Lynn might have been in position to be the heir apparent in 2025. We’ll never know.

Let’s sort through some details of the Chip Kelly aftermath and look at the Bruins’ prospects in their coaching search, which are of interest to USC fans:

Minnesota HC P.J. Fleck addresses UCLA rumors

Minnesota HC P.J. Fleck addresses UCLA rumors

The college football coaching carousel took another turn last week.

Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien left for the head coaching job at Boston College — that only a few weeks after leaving the NFL for the Buckeyes’ job. The Eagles’ job was open because former head coach Jeff Hafley previously left to take the Packers defensive coordinator job.

Then, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly swiftly took O’Brien’s old post with the Buckeyes. The move made waves, especially given Kelly’s pedigree as a head coach and the current state of coaching in college football.

Related: Win totals released for Wisconsin, every Big Ten team in 2024 football season

This recent movement now leaves UCLA without a head coach as it transitions into the Big Ten alongside Oregon, Washington and USC.

As is often the case with coaching movement, insiders were quick to release their big boards for the Bruins’ next coach. Stadium’s Brett McMurphy’s first name was a fellow Big Ten head coach — Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck.

Fleck appeared to address these rumors on ‘X’ last night, writing that he’s ‘honored to be the Head Football Coach at Minnesota.’

Fleck is entering his eighth season at Minnesota and coming off one of his worst. The Golden Gophers went 6-7 last year with a 3-6 record in the Big Ten. His program never won the Big Ten West during its existence, and things are about to get tougher in the new era of the conference.

With the polarizing head coach seemingly staying in Minneapolis, Minnesota, other potential candidates include former Stanford head coach David Shaw, UCLA running backs coach DeShaun Foster, Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford and Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White.

UCLA must act swiftly with spring practice fast approaching.