Chip Kelly and UCLA Football Yet to Agree on Extension, Clock Continues to Tick
Chip Kelly entered the 2021 season very much on the hot seat, and in terms of what he accomplished on the field, he was able to cool things off over the course of his latest campaign.
A 2-0 start for UCLA football, including a big home win over LSU, got the Bruins ranked as high as No. 13 in the polls – the highest they had been in six years. Even after a couple losses, UCLA was still good enough by mid-October to host ESPN's College GameDay. And by ending the year on a three-game winning streak, Kelly got them to the eight-win mark for the first time since 2015.
The highlight of all of that was a 62-33 win over USC on the road, and as many reports have confirmed, that was the moment that UCLA's administration decided they were going to retain Kelly.
But the two sides were unable to agree on an extension back in early December, and they stand in the same gridlock a full month later.
Kelly flirted with the Oregon opening for a moment, even getting an interview with the Ducks, but that did not come to fruition and he ultimately returned to Westwood to prepare for the Holiday Bowl. Through it all, Kelly has said he doesn't pay much attention to his contract situation and that he leaves it fully up to his agent, deflecting questions that gave him the opportunity to mend fences and put any and all rumors to bed.
Instead, Kelly and his agent Jimmy Sexton appear to be playing the leverage game, as do UCLA and athletic director Martin Jarmond.
The staring contest has a few important dates coming up that could disrupt it, though, either ending in an extension or a parting of ways.
Kelly is entering year five of the five-year deal he signed with the Bruins back in Nov. 2017, and that final year starts Jan. 16. For one, college coaches typically don't coach in a contract year for recruiting and negotiation purposes, but in Kelly's case, the date holds even more weight. Kelly's $9 million mutual buyout drops to nothing that day, meaning either side can walk away from the other without having to pay a dime.
Also coming up is the end of the NFL regular season, and there are a handful of coaches who look like they may be fired, with many of those shoes expected to drop on Jan. 10. Kelly was the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers in the past, although both of those stints ended prematurely and drowned in drama.
Still, there is buzz that Kelly could end up drawing interest from NFL teams, according to a report from 247Sports' Bruin Report Online on Thursday. Even if he isn't totally interested in moving back to the pros, Kelly and Sexton may be using the looming NFL "Black Monday" as another pseudo deadline and point of leverage.
There is a real possibility that an NFL team fires a coach Monday morning, interviews Kelly during the week and ends up hiring him when his buyout disappears six days later. And again, Kelly could go through that whole process just to improve his negotiating power with UCLA.
If Kelly were to stay at the college level, there aren't any current openings in the FBS. However, Hawaii coach Todd Graham has come under fire recently for how he has run his program and treated his players, and there are many around the team who want him fired. Joining the Rainbow Warriors, therefore, might be Kelly's only chance to stay in college, so he may have missed his window in terms of strong-arming the Bruins in that arena.
UCLA, on the other hand, does not have as many clear-cut options or avenues should things deteriorate with Kelly.
Most of the premiere coaching options have either signed extensions at their current schools or recently made the jump to one of the dozen high-profile jobs that was open a month ago. In order to line up a replacement for Kelly, the Bruins would likely have to look towards the NFL, such as Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule or Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
If UCLA does not like the prospects it finds there, and is unable to zero in on a relative unknown coach or coordinator in the college ranks, it doesn't have anywhere else to turn besides back to Kelly.
Jarmond has reportedly stood strong through the negotiation process and has not budged on much, although it is unclear what exactly is causing the holdup.
It may be the number of years the Bruins are offering Kelly, the structure of his buyout or staffing decisions like moving off of defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro. Kelly, even after going 8-4 in 2021, is still 18-25 since coming to Westwood without a bowl win. Part of that is due to the Holiday Bowl getting called off due to COVID-19, but the fact that he missed the postseason entirely his first three years set him back as well.
Sources have told both Bruin Report Online and Last Word on College Football that they expect a deal to be struck between UCLA and Kelly's camp. However, if the two sides go past "Black Monday" without putting pen to paper, the negotiation might get flipped on its head.
If the impasse reaches Jan. 16, all bets are off.
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