Mandel: Why would UCLA make a move this expensive? To get Chip Kelly
https://theathletic.com/160086/2017/11/19/chip-kelly-ucla-football-fire-jim-mora-coach/
UCLA is notorious for being frugal when it comes to football, and so, prior to the Bruins’ latest loss to rival USC on Saturday, some had speculated the school might not fire struggling coach Jim Mora after all because of the staggering $12 million buyout it would owe him.
But if there’s one universal truth to college football, it’s that if the boosters are ticked off enough, you can always find the money.
And you don’t spend $12 million to buy out a middling coach like Mora unless you’ve got eyes on a much bigger prize — that prize being Chip Kelly.
For 10 months now, the Great White Whale of the 2017-18 coaching carousel always figured to be the guy who went 46-7 and won three Pac-12 titles in four seasons at Oregon before leaving for two short-lived stints in the NFL. Would it be Auburn? Texas A&M? Tennessee? Nebraska?
Then Florida fired Jim McElwain much sooner than anyone would have expected, and suddenly the Gators became the presumed frontrunner.
But all along, those who know Kelly knew two things: 1) He’s going to wait and see all the opportunities that become available and 2) He’s a consummate contrarian who might not make the most obvious move.
Is Florida a better job than UCLA? Without question. Though the Gators’ past two coaches, McElwain and Will Muschamp before him, did not last long, the program at least has a recent history of winning at a high level. Florida’s three national championships since 1996 trail only Alabama over the same span. It’s in a talent-rich state with SEC resources. The right coach can win big there.
UCLA, by contrast, has mostly been muddling in mediocrity for nearly the past two decades. The Bruins won their last conference championship in 1998. They claimed their one and only national title in 1954. Mora came in and had some initial success, notching back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2013 and ’14 and finishing 10th in the polls that latter season.
Then he sunk to 8-5, 4-8 and now 5-6, wasting an opportunity with a transcendent talent in quarterback Josh Rosen. The fan base returned to the same apathetic state it’s spent most of the 21st century. Though someone cared enough to fly some angry banners over the Rose Bowl a couple of weeks ago.
Kelly is the one semi-realistic name on the market that would immediately whip the fan base into a frenzy. And UCLA may be the one open job where Kelly would see himself as a natural fit.
It’s no secret he loathes much of the periphery stuff that comes with coaching in college — most notably recruiting. He got an NCAA show-cause for recruiting violations under his watch at Oregon, an issue UCLA and any other potential employer must be willing to overlook.
If Kelly had his druthers, he’d be holed up in an office watching film and scheming, like he could in the NFL. But a third NFL team is not likely to come calling for a guy who went 28-35 in four seasons with the Eagles and 49ers.
Kelly could go to Florida and have a state full of speedy skill talent at his disposal — seemingly ideal to plug into his preferred spread option offense. He’s watched protégé Scott Frost walk into UCF and do exactly that in the span of two seasons.
But he’d also walk into the fishbowl that is the SEC, where every little roster transaction is front-page news and every little sound byte a viral headline waiting to happen. He’d also have the weight of sky-high expectations created by the revered Steve Spurrier hanging over him (and Spurrier himself walking in every so often to recommend plays). And he’d have the specter of Nick Saban and his suffocating defenses sitting in the other division.
Though UCLA is in the nation’s second-largest media market, the program operates largely under the radar compared to the microscope that is USC football. I attended a practice in Westwood this spring. There were fewer than 10 reporters present. It’s an ideal spot for Kelly to sit in the shadows and hatch his game plans to take down Clay Helton’s Trojans.
Some will say UCLA can’t possibly pay Kelly the type of dollars Florida can. That’s possibly true. But one factor working in UCLA’s favor is that the 49ers still owe him a reported $6 million a year for the next two years, which could dramatically offset his next employer’s obligations.
UCLA also just opened a sparkling new football facility in August.
Perhaps none of that matters. Perhaps Kelly’s not interested in any college job, much less UCLA’s. Perhaps he’s actually quite eager and ready to take on the challenge of a big SEC job. Or perhaps he’s content to spend another year in ESPN’s studios.
But you can be certain UCLA AD Dan Guerrero is going to be all in on his pursuit. He didn’t buy out Mora to settle for an unproven candidate. In the Pac-12, they don’t come more proven than Kelly.