UCLA Hires Chip Kelly As Next Head Coach

Kelly, 53, coached the Oregon Ducks for three years before moving to the NFL.

Former Oregon, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly will be UCLA’s next football coach. 

Kelly and the school agreed to a five-year contract worth $23.3 million with a $9 million reciprocal buyout, a source told SI. Kelly initially met with UCLA brass early last week in San Francisco. Kelly was impressed by his meeting with Florida officials in New Hampshire last weekend, but in the end he was more comfortable living on the West Coast than in Gainesville.

Kelly was originally thought to be headed to Florida, which fired Jim McElwain earlier in November, but the school began preparing to pursue other candidates late this week, Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports reported, after an in-person meeting with Kelly in New Hampshire last weekend. Thamel reported Kelly as one of three finalists to replace Jim McElwain along with UCF coach Scott Frost and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

The UCLA job came open after Jim Mora was fired following a 28–23 loss to USC last weekend. 

Kelly, 53, has not coached since the 2016 season, when he led the 49ers to a 2-14 record. Prior to that, he spent three seasons with the Eagles and went 26-21. At the college level, Kelly went 46-7 during four years at Oregon that included a trip to the BCS National Championship game after going 12-0 during the 2010 regular season. 

With the Ducks, Kelly established himself as one of college football's most innovative coaches, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. In their run to the title in 2010, Oregon ran an offense at breakneck speed, ranking 106th in time of possession while leading the Pac-12 in scoring with 49.3 points per game.

After being fired from the 49ers, Kelly joined ESPN as an NFL and college football analyst.