UCLA Football: Chip Kelly Reached Out To Big Ten Rival About OC Opportunity?

The UCLA head coach contacted a Big Ten championship-appearing program recently but why?

It appears like Chip Kelly's days in Westwood are numbered. The current head coach of the Bruins has been tied to the NFL and, now, other college programs.

There have been reports that Kelly is tied to the head coaching job at Boston College. On Friday, Mark Schipper tweeted that he contacted Iowa directly to inquire about the open offensive coordinator job with Kirk Frerentz.

Why is Kelly so desperate to get away from UCLA?

Schipper details the reasoning further in his tweet, saying that Kelly knows the Athletic Director wanted to fire him last season.

I’ll repeat this again—per multiple sources—Chip Kelly is not only looking to return to the NFL, he reached out directly to Kirk Ferentz & Iowa about the OC job in Iowa City.

Chip knows his AD was gathering money to fire him last year, (after extending him the previous season),… https://t.co/q6hdyA076W

— Mark Schipper - 5th Down CFB (@5thDownCFB) February 2, 2024

On Thursday, NFL insider Ian Rapoport tweeted that Kelly interviewed twice with the Las Vegas Raiders vacant offensive coordinator job. 

I’ll repeat this again—per multiple sources—Chip Kelly is not only looking to return to the NFL, he reached out directly to Kirk Ferentz & Iowa about the OC job in Iowa City.

Chip knows his AD was gathering money to fire him last year, (after extending him the previous season),… https://t.co/q6hdyA076W

— Mark Schipper - 5th Down CFB (@5thDownCFB) February 2, 2024

With the Raiders ultimately choosing to hire Kliff Kingsbury, Kelly's name has also been attached to Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders.

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is a potential candidate for #Commanders OC under new head coach Dan Quinn, per sources. Kelly, a two-time NFL head coach, is believed to have interest in returning to the league and Washington will consider talking with him.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 2, 2024

Does Kelly see the writing on the wall? Why else would he take a demotion from the head coach of one Big Ten program to the OC at another?

Recruiting. 

Kelly is having to adjust to a new generation of recruiting. He has to recruit young to UCLA multiple times and there's a huge amount of pressure on him to keep them longer than a season.

Chip Kelly has multiple issues at UCLA that are leading him to explore other employment opportunities.

But, leaving out the in-house issues, remember this about Chip: Recruiting players ONE TIME is more than he wants to be a part of.

Re-recruiting them to play in bowl games,…

— Mark Schipper - 5th Down CFB (@5thDownCFB) February 2, 2024

If Kelly truly ends up at Iowa, then UCLA will know that the issues went beyond the football field.