UCLA, Chip Kelly have a lot to play for against Oregon

LOS ANGELES — Chip Kelly has led UCLA to a winning grounds and made the Bruins into a morganatic contender successful the Pac-12 South astatine the midway point.

The Bruins participate a hard portion of their league docket during a shot play that already began with precocious expectations portion fielding a roster that consists of players recruited by Kelly’s staff.

It’s besides the 4th twelvemonth of Kelly’s five-year contract. A triumph implicit No. 10 Oregon this weekend could assistance tamper down the fans’ rumblings for immoderate benignant of coaching alteration that person littered astir of his full tenure and supply different connection triumph for the program.

A sixth triumph would besides supply him with a $10,000 bonus. Kelly would proceed to gain a bonus with each further win.

More important, a triumph would marque the Bruins (5-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) vessel eligible for the archetypal clip since 2017 and acceptable up a pivotal Pac-12 South Conference crippled against Utah connected the roadworthy the pursuing week.

Saturday’s crippled volition beryllium the archetypal clip the Bruins volition person hosted the Ducks astatine the Rose Bowl during Kelly’s tenure. Their anterior 2 meetings (in 2018 and 2020) were UCLA losses successful Eugene, wherever Kelly made a sanction for himself gathering the Ducks programme into nationalist title contenders and began garnering the respect of his peers.

“I don’t deliberation nationally Chip Kelly gets the recognition helium deserves for changing assemblage football,” Stanford manager David Shaw said. “I deliberation Chip precocious assemblage shot by astatine slightest a decennary for what helium did astatine Oregon and you’ve seen different radical person antithetic offenses but truly travel Chip’s pb there.”

Kelly spent six years astatine Oregon, including 4 seasons arsenic its caput manager from 2009 to 2012, earlier leaving for the NFL to manager the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

With Kelly astatine the helm, the Ducks averaged 44.7 points per crippled and featured accelerated and dynamic playmakers similar Darron Thomas, LaMichael James, De’Anthony Thomas, Marcus Mariota and Kenjon Barner.

“When I was successful Eugene, we were the lone squad that had shiny helmets and played with 5 wide receivers,” Kelly said. “Everybody plays with shiny helmets and 5 wide receivers now. I deliberation the crippled of shot is cyclical. There’s ebbs and flows to everything that goes on.

“It’s not thing we invented and brought to the game. It’s thing we thought would beryllium beneficial to america astatine Oregon, we added it, and it helped america beryllium successful.”

Changing football

Kelly concluded his tenure successful Eugene with an wide grounds of 46-7 and finished 33-3 successful league play. Kelly besides led the Ducks to 3 league championships from 2009 to 2011 and 4 BCS vessel crippled appearances.

“I springiness a batch of respect to Chip Kelly,” Washington manager Jimmy Lake said. “Kelly changed shot backmost astatine Oregon erstwhile they were going up-tempo. … but presently I person not seen a alteration successful violative benignant of football, to that height, the mode that helium changed shot astir a decennary ago.”

Kelly’s creativity was connected show past play against Lake and the Huskies successful Seattle, wherever helium offered antithetic alignments and formations to make disorder for the opposing defense.

“Chip’s done a bully occupation of gathering this programme down there,” Arizona State manager Herm Edwards said. “You person to play with cleanable eyes (against UCLA).

“There’s a batch of oculus candy – a batch of motions and a batch of shifts. When they consciousness similar they got you disconnected balance, they’ll tally backmost up to the enactment and won’t let you to substitute.”

Kelly spent 3 seasons with the Eagles and 1 with the San Francisco 49ers earlier taking a twelvemonth disconnected from coaching to enactment for ESPN arsenic a workplace analyst.

The New Hampshire autochthonal resurfaced successful 2017 and was hired by erstwhile UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero.

During his introductory property conference, Kelly credited Duke shot manager David Cutcliffe for his proposal connected deciding wherever to manager next.

“I beryllium (Cutcliffe) due to the fact that helium talked to maine each the clip astir his experiences and helium had been determination earlier and got fired,” Kelly said. “He said his twelvemonth disconnected was the champion acquisition helium ever had, it’s what you marque of it. And past helium said, ‘Just marque definite erstwhile you travel backmost that you find the close fit.’

“And that was highly important to maine … to beryllium aligned and beryllium with the close people.”

Turning the tide

The Bruins went 7-17 their archetypal 2 seasons nether Kelly, who went astir rebuilding and retooling the programme amid a large roster overhaul and a fig of outgoing transfers. Those inactive playing for Kelly person seen the turnaround.

“This radical came successful with Chip,” fourth-year starting backmost Dorian Thompson-Robinson said. “We cognize the offense, we cognize what he’s looking for, we cognize his benignant of play. And putting that together, this has been the champion discourtesy since I’ve been here.”

The programme is besides represented connected Kelly’s unit with alumni specified arsenic DeShaun Foster (running backs coach) and Jerry Neuheisel (receivers coach) assisting the offense.

Martin Jarmond, who was hired arsenic UCLA’s diversion director May 19, 2020, aft Guerrero’s retirement, has spoken highly astir Kelly’s effort to enactment the student-athletes’ well-being astatine the forefront and his blimpish attack to guarantee the Bruins did their owed diligence truthful due procedures were successful bid earlier continuing to hole for the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

The Bruins finished 3-4 past twelvemonth but showed important improvement. Their 4 losses – to Colorado, No. 11 Oregon, No. 15 USC and Stanford – were by a combined 15 points.

With astir of the starting discourtesy and defence returning, the Bruins won their archetypal 2 nonconference games this summer, against Hawai’i and LSU, successful nationally televised games.

Kelly and the Bruins instrumentality to the nationalist spotlight this week arsenic the featured crippled connected ABC (12:30 p.m. PT) and with ESPN’s “College GameDay” coming to campus.

Jarmond, who showed his support for the shot program with decisions that see the Jordan Brand woody and bringing respective features to the Rose Bowl to heighten the game-day experience, talks similar helium has recovered a kindred tone successful Kelly.

“I emotion moving with Chip,” Jarmond told the Southern California News Group successful August. “Since Day 1, Chip is idiosyncratic who’s been supportive, he’s been transparent and has helped maine recognize UCLA successful antithetic ways due to the fact that he’s somewhat new.”