UCLA Football: Chip Kelly Praises "Special Group" Of Upperclassmen Prior To Bears Game

The UCLA Bruins football program has been an up-and-down year, but they have given it their all the entire time. While they would have liked some results to be different, they have now put themselves in a position to end the year strong.

After taking down the rival USC Trojans a week ago, the Bruins can finish the year on a two-game winning streak if they can defeat Cal this week. They have a ton of seniors who will be graduating, and they want to do right by them with a victory.

Head coach Chip Kelly gave his thoughts on the upperclassmen on the roster, and how special they have been for this program.

“It’s a special group, there’s a bunch of them who have been here a while … you still have remnants of the COVID kids,” said Kelly, whose roster features 13 redshirt seniors and 21 seniors. “Alex Johnson and Kenny Churchwell are in Year 6 and some of these kids who got the extra year of eligibility have been the standard for this team. The work ethic they show up with every day, the attention to detail, how involved they are in the meetings, the training sessions, strength and conditions stuff, they’ve been fantastic. We have great group of senior leaders here.”

Per Chip Kelly via The LA Times

This Bruins program has taken strides over the last few years, and the upperclassmen have been a big part of that. They will have one more game during the regular season to claim, and they want to make the most of it all.

The Cal Golden Bears will be coming to town, and the Bruins know that it won’t be an easy win. Cal has played well against some of the better teams in the Pac-12, and UCLA shouldn’t take them lightly.

They have a chance to salvage their season and end it on a strong note this week with a win. It would mean a lot to the seniors on the team, and the Bruins could feel good about themselves heading into the long summer.

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