Cal Sports Report

Chip Kelly May Not Be UCLA's Coach When Cal Faces Bruins

According to a report, Kelly is likely to be fired after USC game -- if UCLA loses that game

Jake Curtis

In this story:

It appears Chip Kelly might not be UCLA's coach when Cal faces the Bruins in Pasadena on November 25.

Bruin Report Online posted a report that includes this excerpt:

It's now very realistic -- and even likely -- that UCLA will fire Chip Kelly after the USC game, according to many sources close to the situation.

If UCLA actually beats USC Saturday, the dismissal could be delayed until after the Cal game.

This is a report, not an announcement, so nothing official has been done, and other publications have not reported that Kelly might be fired this weekend. 

If Kelly is fired after this week's game against USC, it is unclear who would be the Bruins' interim head coach in the game against Cal.

The Bruins have a 6-4 record, including 3-4 in the Pac-12.   They were ranked as high as 18th this season and were 19th after beating Colorado to improve to 6-2.  But UCLA lost to Arizona and Arizona State in the two games since then.

Earlier this week, an article in the Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke suggested Kelly should be fired as the Bruins enter the Big Ten next season.

However, it would be hard to fire Kelly this weekend if the Bruins beat USC. Most oddsmaker have made USC a 6.5-point favorite in that game.

UCLA went 9-4 last season and 8-4 the year before that, finishing with 6-3 conference marks both seasons. The Bruins had losing records in Kelly's three seasons before that.

Cal must win this Saturday's game at Stanford and the following week's game against UCLA to become bowl-eligible.

Cover photo of Chip Kelly is by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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