UCLA Football: 3 Potential Head Coach Replacements For Chip Kelly
With the news breaking of head coach Chip Kelly leaving the program, your UCLA football program is back to square one in what's looking like a very tough transitionary year into the Big Ten.
Many consider UCLA's upcoming schedule to number among the toughest in all of college football. Complicating things is the timing of this move. Rarely do you see a football program faced with finding a replacement head coach at this point in the calendar year.
As such, UCLA needs to act swiftly if it is to hold onto its recruiting class full of both high school prospects and transfer portal additions.
Kelly's departure leaves the Bruins in a very tough spot. Many of the coaching candidates who were available weeks ago are now with other programs. Chancellor Gene Block will retire this upcoming July. Will he really want to undertake another high-profile national search for a head coach knowing he'll be shortly out the door?
There's also athletic director Martin Jarmond -- a mercurial figure who's been under a lot of heat from the fan base in recent months. His status as the AD moving forward with a new Chancellor put in place will be something to watch.
The 'easy' thing to do for UCLA would be to appoint an interim head coach. It's not ideal, though it would enable the next Chancellor to lead the search for 'their own' choice once appointed to the post.
With the cupboard of potential choices looking rather bare, here are three potential options I could see being looked at as replacements for Kelly:
Option 1: Go Interim
Looking at the current members of UCLA's coaching staff, an interim option could be picked from one of three candidates: assistant head coach/safeties coach Brian Norwood, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, and linebackers Coach Ken Norton Jr.
Norton Jr. is an alum of the program and has obvious ties as both a player and a coach. He'd had a long career in the sport which included being a Defensive Coordinator on the NFL level. Undoubtedly, he is very respected within the program.
By going for an interim coach, UCLA would acknowledge a temporary solution to hire a full-time coach next cycle.
However, if the Bruins do go for an interim coach, the NIL support -- which is already porous -- might be on life support. Additionally, how many recruits will opt to commit to the program knowing that a new coach will soon be in charge down the line?
Option 2: Go Coordinator
Going for a coordinator might be the best overall move.
The cost to poach an up-and-coming defensive/offensive coordinator should be financially feasible. In this case, it could even help UCLA. Traditionally, the athletic department is reticent to go for a young, hungry option from outside of the UCLA universe.
Out of necessity, this could be the best move for the program. You ideally want a coach ready to prove themselves after coming from a lower level. The thought of hiring an older retread without the motivation to recruit or understand the inner workings of the NIL world could be disastrous.
In terms of a coordinator option, Nebraska DC Tony White would be a smart choice. The 44-year-old did a great job at Syracuse before being hired by Matt Rhule. White is known to be a fantastic recruiter from his time in the sport.
He got his coaching start as a grad assistant at UCLA. He then learned from under famed defensive mind Rocky Long at both New Mexico and San Diego State. He also spent time at Arizona State -- meaning he's familiar with the West Coast recruiting footprint from where UCLA pulls players from.
Even better for the fan base, White starred at UCLA as a player before playing briefly for the Buffalo Bills and in the CFL.
Simply put, White would be a no-brainer IF UCLA decided to try and save money/go outside of the box (slightly).
Option 3: Go Unemployed
Now, this is a tricky third option.
The last two UCLA head coaches (Jim Mora, Kelly) were unemployed when hired by the Bruins. Neither one of those tenures ended overly well.
However, it wouldn't be shocking to see the program go this direction -- if for nothing else it would be a decision without much in the way of involvement or work.
David Shaw would be the guy in this scenario. The former Stanford coach did have a ton of success during his lengthy tenure in Palo Alto. He won five Pac-12 North Division titles, was a 4-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and won the conference three separate times.
Shaw understands the academic rigors/handcuffs at UCLA having coached at an even tougher academically-inclined institution. He also has a scope of recruiting on the West Coast.
He had been a visitor at a handful of practices this past year. Shaw is friends with Kelly. Additionally, Shaw's son Carter is a receiver on the team.
Despite Shaw's career at Stanford cratering relative to the success he had once sustained, he checks a lot of the boxes UCLA would look for in a head coach.
