UCLA Football: Chip Kelly's Unique Method To Handling Naysayers
A week ago, a report surfaced on Bruin Report Online that Chip Kelly's firing was "likely" after the USC - UCLA game. Well, the time has come. That's because, on Saturday, UCLA beat USC 38-20 in a convincing win that highlighted UCLA's defensive prowess.
After the win Saturday, Kelly spoke about how he handled the reports of his likely firing with his team:
"Josh [Rebholz] came over the other day and said, ‘Hey, there’s a report about this, and Martin [Jarmond] told me it was inaccurate, inappropriate. I don’t pay attention to that stuff, I don’t read that stuff, I never see that stuff," Kelly said. "I talk about being emotionally prepared and least distracted; why would I let something distract me? And then, if that’s the case, then I’m a fool because I’m not doing what I tell our players to do."
Based on this, and other actions that Kelly has taken this week, it sure seems like Kelly hasn't been at all phased by that report. He also highlighted that he never even recognized the report with his team.
"I never talked to the team about it, never talked to our coaches about it," Kelly reflected. "We’re just fortunate. We’re all blessed that we get to play this sport. And every day that we get to coach it, I’m the happiest man in the world."
Kelly essentially put on proverbial noise-canceling headphones and distributed them to his whole team. He lead by example, and did himself what he asks of his players. He went out and earned a meaningful win against a good team in USC despite the naysayers.
Now with USC behind him, Kelly can focus on game planning for the California Golden Bears at home next week. If UCLA feels confident with Kelly's leadership as they wrap things up in the Pac 12 (forever), heading into the Big 10 with some momentum and steady leadership would be very ideal for the Bruin football program.
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