Tag: Chip Kelly

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.

The Columbus Shuffle: Bill O’Brien leaves, Chip Kelly enters

Ohio State’s coaching staff saw some shuffling around on Friday.

It was a busy day on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, as the Ohio State Buckeyes saw the departure of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and hired former UCLA head Chip Kelly to be their next offensive coordinator.

O’Brien left the Buckeyes after less than two months on the job for the head coach opening at Boston College. It will be his second career head coaching job at the college level, also leading Penn State in 2011 and 2012 before spending parts of seven seasons with the NFL’s Houston Texans as head coach.

On the other hand, Kelly heads to Columbus after stepping down as UCLA’s head coach earlier on Friday. Kelly has spent the last several weeks interviewing multiple NFL offensive coordinator opportunities as he was set to enter the 2024 season on the hot seat with the Bruins.

Kelly spent six seasons in Westwood and led the program to three straight seasons of eight or more wins, including a nine-win season in 2022. Overall, Kelly was 35-34 as the Bruins’ head coach and leaves UCLA with a career record of 81-41, which includes a 46-7 record at Oregon from 2009 through 2012.

The Huskers will get a close look at Ohio State’s new-look offense under Chip Kelly next fall on October 26 when Matt Rhule takes his program on the road to Columbus.

Chip Kelly in, Bill O’Brien out: Did Ohio State get the better Big Ten offensive coordinator for 2024?

Everyone is asking this question.

Chip Kelly’s offense with Ohio State’s football talent could be a lethal combination, but we will have to wait and see just how well the new offensive coordinator works in Columbus with the Buckeyes. It is worth noting that Bill O’Brien, as an offensive coordinator with Nick Saban at Alabama, helped the Crimson Tide reach the national championship game in the 2021 season. It has been a long time since Chip Kelly coached in a national championship game. That was back in the 2010 season and January of 2011 for the Oregon Ducks against the Auburn Tigers.

It is worth asking: Who is the better Big Ten offensive coordinator and the better fit at Ohio State: Chip Kelly or Bill O’Brien?

When Bill O’Brien was offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2021, he guided Bryce Young, the Southern California product who went to Tuscaloosa to play for Saban. As it turned out, that 2021 Alabama team was the last Saban-coached team to play in a national championship game. Saban’s last Bama team in 2023 came one stop short of the title round, losing to Michigan in the playoff semifinals at the Rose Bowl.

Bill O’Brien getting to the national title is a notable achievement, but that Alabama offense in 2021 was a far cry from the 2020 Alabama offense which averaged over 48 points per game under coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Alabama wasn’t nearly as productive in 2021, averaging roughly 8.5 fewer points per contest.

Everyone will debate if Chip Kelly has lost his fastball, or if being a coordinator is exactly the job which suits him today. He won’t have to recruit. He can just call plays for Ryan Day. Is that better than Bill O’Brien? We’ll never really know, but we can say that Chip Kelly has a lot to prove at Ohio State.

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Photos from Chip Kelly’s final game as UCLA head coach

Photos from LA Bowl: Chip Kelly’s final game at UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins football program is entering a new chapter after Chip Kelly left for the Ohio State OC job on Friday.

It was a stunning turn of events, although not entirely a surprise after his name popped up in a flurry of NFL OC jobs.

It turns out the final game Chip Kelly was the head coach for was the LA Bowl victory over Boise State.

At the end of the season, it was a thought that Kelly would go elsewhere. However, it was reported that he would return in 2024, but that was before things unraveled in the past few weeks.

So, officially, Chip Kelly is no longer at UCLA, and the final game with him on the sidelines will have taken place a SoFiStadium in a win over the Broncos.

Coaching history of new Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly

Traversing the coaching history of Chip Kelly. #GoBucks

With news of newly hired offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien departing to take the head coaching position at Boston College on Friday, the Buckeyes were left with vacant offensive coordinator postion to fill.

That didn’t last long however as just after the news to O’Brien’s departure, it was reported by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that the Buckeyes were bringing in Chip Kelly to be their offensive coordinator.

The hire makes a lot of sense given that Kelly and Ryan Day have experience working together and Kelly is accomplished as an offensive mind at the college and NFL level.

Here is a brief coaching history of the newest Buckeyes coach.