UCLA Football: Top Bruin To Retain Acknowledged By Chip Kelly

UCLA must keep him in the program.

Your UCLA Bruins' 2023 season was full of ups and downs, but it ended with a complete dud. The team was blown off their field against the Cal Golden Bears by the score of 33-7, and they now head into the offseason with a ton of questions. 

One of the few things that did go right for the Bruins this year was their defense. It became the identity of this team, and it helped them win a ton of their games.

Entering the offseason, one of the priorities for the Bruins will be to retain defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. Lynn completely transformed this defensive unit, and he remains the most important person to keep in the program.

"Assuming Kelly remains the Bruins’ coach, one of his top priorities will be holding onto defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. UCLA finished the regular season No. 11 in total defense by giving up 299 yards per game, earning Lynn a $50,000 bonus and probably a massive raise from the two-year contract that pays him $1 million annually if the Bruins intend to ward off potential suitors."

Per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times

Head coach Chip Kelly acknowledged the importance of keeping Lynn in town and spoke about how valuable he is for this program.

“Yeah, we definitely would love to keep D’Anton here,” Kelly said. “I’m not in charge of tearing anybody’s contracts up, so that’s not in my realm but I know — and I know our administration knows how valuable D’Anton is to us, he’s done a tremendous job and he’s a really, really good football coach, and he’s probably a better person than he is a football coach and he’s a really good football coach, so we’d love to keep D’Anton around here.”

Per Chip Kelly via The Los Angeles Times

Kelly himself may be on the hot seat, but the Bruins need to do whatever it takes to keep Lynn with them. He is sure to garner some interest after the year he put together, but staying with the Bruins needs to be the focus.

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