The UCLA football team is at a crossroads as it prepares for the season’s final four games, including the bowl game.
The Bruins (6-3 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) are bowl-eligible for the third time in six years under head coach Chip Kelly, but the team is coming off a loss to coach Jedd Fisch and Arizona for a second consecutive season.
Fisch briefly spent time as the Bruins’ interim head coach in 2017, being promoted from offensive coordinator after Jim Mora was fired and before Kelly was hired.
Kelly has since accumulated an overall record of 33-32 and a Pac-12 Conference record of 25-24 with the Bruins. He will have an opportunity to match his best conference record with the program at 6-3, which was achieved in each of the past two seasons.
The Bruins are currently 3-3 in Pac-12 play, with games against Arizona State, crosstown rival USC and Cal remaining.
Kelly has improved the overall record with each season at UCLA, aside from the shortened pandemic season in 2020, but holds a 5-25 record in games against opponents (from 2018 to 2022) that later finished the season with winning records.
Some fans have already become disheartened and expressed their concern for the direction of the program following losses to Oregon State, Arizona and Utah this season, hoping that a change to the Big Ten Conference would also include a new head coach.
“I think anytime you lose, everybody just gets frustrated,” Kelly said. “That’s just part of the process that you have to go through when you lose a game.
“I think you have to stick together as a team. We win as a team and lose as a team, so that’s just part of the nature when you lose.”
Kelly agreed to a two-year contract extension in March that will keep him at in Westwood through 2027.
If Kelly is fired before December 2023, he will receive an $8.5 million buyout. The amount falls to $4.27 million if he is dismissed before December 2024.
This season, the defense took a significant step forward and became one of the stingiest in the country, allowing 294.3 yards per game. The unit is led by a group of transfers that returned to play another season together under first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
Kelly has built a reputation as being an effective offensive-minded coach, which was on full display last year as the Bruins had one of the top-producing offenses in the country, but hasn’t been able to maintain that level following the loss of impact players to the NFL draft and graduation.
UCLA’s staff was intentional about replenishing the offense through the transfer portal, welcoming players such as quarterback Collin Schlee (Kent State), receiver J.Michael Sturdivant (Cal) and running back Carson Steele (Ball State) among others.
After another unproductive showing from the offense in the recent loss to the Wildcats, the Bruins were knocked out of the College Football Playoff Rankings on Tuesday evening. UCLA was ranked No. 19 in the initial rankings Oct. 31.
The team is seventh in the conference standings and all but eliminated from the Pac-12 championship race.
A level of tension within the team has also surfaced, with linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo – another notable transfer – among the players speaking out about the need to stay “unified as a group” to finish out the season.
Defensive lineman Jake Heimlicher and center Duke Clemens also spoke about the need to hold each other accountable.
“We always rely on our team leaders and our position coaches,” Kelly said. “We rely on everybody in the program so we always talk about it. You have to rally when you lose a game and I think that’s a big thing that everyone has to focus and concentrate on.”
