UCLA almost fired Chip Kelly back in November. The Bruins, who chose to give him one more season, are left red-faced and embarrassed today.
Kelly bolted for Ohio State.
And not only did he leave one Big Ten program for another, he took a $4ish million pay cut to serve as the offensive coordinator. No matter how you look at it, it is a step down on the coaching ladder.
No disrespect to Columbus, which is a great city, but it is also a step down in terms of location. Kelly is moving from a multi-million beach house in the South Bay of Los Angeles to central Ohio— where it is cold and often snowy from November to March.
However, none of that matters to the 60-year-old head coach-turned-offensive coordinator.
John Canzano spoke to Kelly a few weeks back. The latter made a very telling comment to the former.
He said: “NIL defeats weather” in relation to recruiting.
What he meant was that money is more important to high school and transfer portal athletes than location. A large financial package outweighs the cold winter months. If a player is getting paid well, he can deal with the weather.
Chip Kelly wanted out.
This new quote is a very interesting piece of the puzzle in relation to Kelly’s departure.
Ohio State made a big NIL push during the offseason and loaded up on some of the top players in the transfer portal. Highlights include Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, Julian Sayin and Caleb Downs.
Meanwhile, UCLA landed just one four-star transfer.
Perhaps the NIL funds in Westwood aren’t as significant as you might expect from one of the premier brands in the country. Maybe boosters were unwilling to spend big money with Kelly in charge. His tenure with the Bruins was one of the worst in program history. He was almost fired.
Why would someone want to drop a bag on a player if the coach isn’t winning?
Whether Name, Image and Likeness played a role or not, Chip Kelly wanted to be proactive in leaving UCLA. There was mutual interest between him and the Seahawks. Other options were on the table.
Kelly saw the writing on the wall and chose to get out while he could. He is going to be in charge of one of the better offenses in the country on a team that is expected to make the College Football Playoff on the heels of a frustrating offensive season.
If he can inject life into the Buckeyes, other opportunities will be available at this time next year. That would not have been the case if Kelly continued to lose in Los Angeles.