UCLA Football: Star Prospect Flips Commitment From Bruins After Hearing Chip Kelly NFL Rumors

Chip Kelly's NFL interest is affecting recruiting.

Chip Kelly's interest in returning to the NFL is proving costly for your UCLA Bruins. The UCLA football head coach has shown interest in the NFL and leaving the Bruins over the last few weeks.

Now, it's costing future recruits for the Bruins. Three-star defensive lineman Keona Wilhite, a senior from Tuscon, Arizona, was originally slated to go to Washington. However, Wilhite de-committed after head coach Kalen DeBoer left to take the Alabama head coaching job.

After that, Wilhite narrowed his options down to Nebraska, Michigan State and UCLA, before choosing UCLA in late January. But with the news of Chip Kelly potentially leaving, Wilhite changed his mind and now signed with Nebraska on National Signing Day. 

When asked if Kelly's potential NFL plans impacted his decision, Wilhite revealed it certainly did.

“It did, it did,” Wilhite said. “I saw that and I thought, aw, this is going to be another Washington situation.”

via Sam McKewon of the Omaha World Herald.

This is a huge loss for UCLA, not just because of the loss of Wilhite, but because the late plans for Kelly to potentially leave are clearly impacting UCLA's recruiting for their football team.

Kelly is interviewing for the Seattle Seahawks OC vacancy today, and previously interviewed for the Las Vegas Raiders OC vacancy two times. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that Kelly is actively seeking NFL opportunities, leaving UCLA with question marks for what will happen with their head coach.

So far, the Bruins have not announced any official signings on National Signing Day, with Kelly instead heading to an interview. The Bruins will want to get this situation sorted out soon, before they lose more recruits.