UCLA Football: In Stunning Twist, HC Chip Kelly Abandons Bruins For Ohio State OC Position

He's jetting!

Well this was unexpected.

After six thoroughly mediocre years, UCLA Bruins football head coach Chip Kelly is stepping down from his post. He'll depart Westwood for his next coaching opportunity with Ohio State.

Confirmed that Chip Kelly has informed UCLA that he is leaving to take the Ohio State OC job under Ryan Day. Not sure who had this first.

— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) February 9, 2024

Some of us here at AllBruins.com wondered if Kelly would last much longer at UCLA anyway, although we figured he would be less proactive about a move, and would instead just linger uncomfortably until athletic director Martin Jarmond gave him the official axe.

Kelly, 60, enjoyed a storied run with Pac-12 inter-conference rival the Oregon Ducks from 2009-12, coaching the Eugene-based program to a 33-3 overall record and four consecutive bowl games, including two Rose Bowl appearances (which the Ducks split, 1-1). In 2010, he stewarded a then-undefeated club to what was then called the BCS National Championship Game which Oregon dropped 22-19 to Gene Chizik's Auburn Tigers.

His tenure with UCLA was decidedly bumpier. Kelly had only guided the Bruins to three bowl games during his six seasons, and the Blue and Gold never finished with a record better than 9-4 in 2022, when a favored UCLA, led by now-Cleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, finished the year by dropping Sun Bowl 37-35 to the Pittsburgh Panthers.

With Thompson-Robinson gone by 2023, Kelly scrambled to pick a starting quarterback throughout the season, generally toggling between junior Ethan Garbers and now-departed true freshman Dante Moore (he joined the Ducks!). UCLA finished with a good-but-not-great 8-5 record on the year, having wrapped up with an emphatic 35-22 LA Bowl win over the Boise State Broncos, despite the departure of star defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn (he's now with another loathed Pac-12 nemesis, the USC Trojans) ahead of that postseason game.