WATCH: Chip Kelly Shares Lessons From Arizona Loss, Previews UCLA-USC
UCLA football coach Chip Kelly spoke to reporters ahead of Monday morning's practice session at the Wasserman Football Center. Kelly talked about his confidence level in the defense after their performance in the loss to Arizona, what lessons he can take away from the defeat and apply to defending USC quarterback Caleb Williams, the statuses of Kazmeir Allen and Bill McGovern, his favorite parts of his team at the moment, Dorian Thompson-Robinson's five-year journey, the Trojans' weapons after Travis Dye's leg injury, Jeff Saturday's debut with the Colts and Alex Grinch's success as a defensive coordinator.
What are the corrections that need to be made on defense and what is your level of confidence that they can be fixed?
I'm very confident. I think when you go back and watch that football game, Jayden de Laura made a lot of off-schedule plays where he just was a football player. And, you know, I think that their big plays occurred, especially on third-and-long and second-and-long situations, when we had them pinned back and he just kept the play alive. One of the touchdowns, the touchdown that he threw, the two touchdowns, you know, on the scramble plays, are kinda sometimes, you gotta give him credit on what a great player he was on that particular night. So I think our scheme is sound, I think our players do a really good job with it, I think they have a great understanding of it. When plays break down, we just gotta do a better job of finding receivers and plastering to receivers in those scrambling situations.
So that's the key against Caleb Williams?
Well, they're two different people, so I think – we don't compare Caleb to Jayden. So, you know, you've got 11 games, it's a different scheme, Lincoln runs a different scheme than Jedd runs. So our sole focus now, as we move on after we put the game to bed earlier this morning, now we go to our installs for what we're gonna do against USC. But our gameplan for USC isn't predicated on what we did against Arizona.
So what does the defense need to do well against USC and Caleb Williams?
We need to tackle well, we need to get the ball in front of us, we need to do all the things that we – that every sound defense does.
What do you like most about your club right now?
I like their resiliency. I think we have great leadership. We have some older players on our team – the Mo Oslings, the Dorians, the Jon Gaines – kids that have been around here for a while that have had a lot of highs and they've had some lows, but I think always bounce back. They've always practiced really, really well. The best thing that this team does is every day, they come out and train every single day with a passion and an intention to get better on a daily basis. It was the same thing in meetings this morning, I think they're excited about the next opportunity that they have. I think you have to relish that, you only get 12 games a year. It seems like it flew like that, we're on game 11 already, so I'm excited about getting back out on the field with these guys, play a good Southern Cal team.
This one's against your crosstown rival, how will you...
It's the same.
Is it really?
Yeah, it has to be. You know, I don't think you can make the game bigger than it is, and I don't think it can get any bigger than it is. The familiarity is the unique thing about this game and what I think separates this game from everybody else's. The proximities of the two schools, sometimes you have a rival but it's from another state – you know, Texas versus Oklahoma, you know, those are two highly different states. You've got two teams that are housed in the same city, so – and there's a bunch of kids on our team that played with kids on their team in high school, so that part is the fun part. You get to go up against – it's kinda like getting in a fight with your brother. You respect him, but you know you're gonna give him your best. So that's what our focus and attention is on, just having a really, really good Monday. We know we play well on Saturdays when we practice well during the week, and that's always been the process, so we're gonna stick to the process as we get ready for this one.
What's your motivation to win on Saturday?
There actually is none. Like, we might not even show up. So I just think I haven't even talked about that with our guys. We struggle, as a group, to say 'Do we have any motivation to play this game.' I mean, you can throw the records out, you can do whatever, but our motivation is to be successful in everything we do. I was being sarcastic before, but I'm surprised by that question, I don't know if I've ever been asked that question before about when you play a ranked – when you play any game, there better be motivation. If you're internally motivated, you have intrinsic motivation, you're fired up no matter who you play. Add to the fact that it is a crosstown rival and there's such history and tradition in that thing, I don't worry anything about our players from a motivation standpoint for this game.
Both teams having so many transfers change that dynamic, reduce the familiarity?
I don't, I mean, I don't have that answer for you, I don't know the exact numbers of that. There's still a lot of kids from Southern California playing in this football game, so probably more than anybody else we know, so that's kinda what we talk about. There's a lot of high school teammates from some of the bigger schools in the region that send kids to both places, so.
How's Kaz?
Kaz, we'll see what he can do from a practice standpoint today. So I haven't seen him practice yet, so we'll see what he does when we get him out on the field.
Bill McGovern?
Billy's not here today.
Has he suffered a setback?
Billy is just unavailable.
How would you assess your defense's performance on the season overall?
I think our defense has done a really good job. We gotta be better in some of our situational situations, that's part of it. I think, if you look at that game specifically on Saturday, there's a couple things situationally – especially the unscheduled plays, the quarterback scrambles, the plays off the quarterback scrambles, things like that – that we have to improve, and I think that's what you work on every single week when you watch a game tape and put the game tape to bed. You go into your meetings, you make the proper corrections and you go out on the field and execute that.
Dorian's last home game Saturday – have you gone through as much with a quarterback as you have with him in these five years?
I think anytime you're coaching guys through highs and lows, I think everyone is individual and I think it's unique, so I never try to compare one to another or 'It was like this when I had this guy, but it was like this when I had that guy.' There's an extensive period of time with him because he was around for five years. I think that's the cool thing, you get to be around Dorian for five years, it's really cool. He's the ultimate competitor, competes his tail off, he's unbelievably tough. When you talk about resiliency, I think he models resiliency in terms of how he plays, how he practices every single day. I don't think people realize how hard it is to play quarterback and be on the field. He very rarely has missed any time, and when he's missed time, very rarely does he miss practice time. There's other guys where, maybe the trainer will say 'I'm not sure what he's gonna do today' and then you look out there and he's full. But that's him, his toughness and his competitiveness are as good as ever.
What's it been like seeing the growth in him?
Yeah, you know, that's the fun part. I think our job is we're a developmental program and I think that's job of any college, is to develop kids. You get them at 17 and 18 years old coming out of high school and then they leave you at 21, 22 as they've grown into young men. So watching him develop – both academically, athletically, socially, spiritually – has been fun. You know, that's the cool part about it. And he understands that there's a constant thirst for him to get better on a daily basis. And that makes you, as a coach – you know, you gotta come to work everyday and you've gotta be prepared because you know he's gonna be prepared.
How much of a challenge is Caleb Williams?
Yeah, he's a talented a quarterback as there is out there. I think he can really throw the ball really well. I think Lincoln's always had a great design when it comes to quarterbacks and I think Caleb's as good a quarterback as there is in the country, so we're excited about that challenge by going against him this week.
How big of a dropoff do they have from Travis Dye to their next running backs?
I don't know, cause there's not enough on it, but I think we played against Austin before when he was at Stanford, he's a good, solid running back. Malik is a young freshman that's really flashed, and then they got another big transfer that's a physical player. So I couldn't be able to tell you, cause they really haven't had him – this is the first time they haven't had him, so you have nothing to compare with, but I know those guys are good. And then there's weapons everywhere, whether it's at receiver or quarterback or running back, so it's not just a running back-driven offense. So I think, you obviously, that's a blow to them, and I feel for Travis. Travis has been one of the great players in the Pac-12, and it's sad when you don't get a chance to compete with him for the last time, but there's another kid like a Dorian that just – that kid's a competitor, he's tough as heck. You hated to play against him, but you enjoyed watching him on film. I've got a lot of respect for Travis and I wish him nothing but health. I hope he can recover from whatever the injury was, but it didn't look good when you watched the game on Friday night, so.
How deep is USC's receiving corps?
Yeah, they've got some depth there, you know, with Addison and Rice and some of the other guys – and Williams – and they're working some other guys into that thing. But I think everybody in this league, when you're facing them, we played good receivers last week, we play good receivers this week. I think they've got depth, and that's a bonus for them.
Called a timeout early in the fourth quarter, didn't think you would need it later?
No, we had a formation that we were taking a loss, we weren't lined up the right way, so it would've been a penalty on us on offense, so I didn't want to take a loss on that play.
Isn't 5 yards nothing compared to 30 seconds at the end of a close game?
Well, you can't predict what the outcome of the game is gonna be, so that 5 yards could have turned into an interception and the last 30 seconds of the game wouldn't have never counted. So, I mean, you're just, you're playing devil's advocate after the fact, I could do that on every play call that we make. Like I shouldn't have made that play call cause it didn't score a touchdown, so if I made this play call, maybe it would've scored a touchdown, but you can't predict that. So, you know, if you think it's gonna prevent a bad play and that bad play could hurt you, then that's kinda where you go with that situation, so.
Spent time with USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch at New Hampshire – what do you remember about him from back then and what do you make of his success?
Yeah, I'm not surprised at Alex's success. You know, the first time you met him, you know how smart and intelligent he is. Um, he's a great teacher, that's the one thing I always admired about Alex is I think he's a great teacher, I think he teaches really, really well. He was the DB coach when I was the quarterback offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, and you could tell how well a teacher he was in the room and what a great job he did, you know, with the fundamentals of football. And I think it's followed him everywhere he's been, whether it was at Missouri, Washington State – where he had a really good run – and then he went to Ohio State, then at Oklahoma and then here. But Alex's success doesn't surprise me, he's a really, really, really good football coach.
Jeff Saturday coming in with no coaching experience and leading the Colts to a win?
Did they win? I mean, I'm in the office on Sundays, so...
Yeah, they beat the..
Oh, that's cool. Jeff's a cool dude, I've known Jeff for a little bit when he worked at ESPN. He's smart, he's intelligent, so I'm happy for him. They won? Who'd they play?
Vegas
Oh, alright, good for Jeff. 1-0, enjoy it, enjoy it.
Lots of discussion about someone with no coaching experience coming in to coach an NFL team on six days notice
I know there's a lot of people out there that think they can do it, so more power to him. So, but I think Jeff, Jeff had an unbelievable career. I don't know the inner working around it, but I know Jeff as a person. The little that I know him as a person, he's – Jeff's a class act and Jeff is good people, so.
First time that UCLA and USC will both have black starting quarterbacks going against each other – what does that mean to have that?
Really?
Yeah
I didn't know that. I think it's awesome. You know, I think the two of them are – we got to know Caleb a little bit in the recruiting process and obviously, what we think of Dorian, I think the world of him and the success that they've had. I actually wish there wasn't a talking point – it shouldn't be a talking point. I think the two of those guys are unbelievable competitors and unbelievable quarterbacks. And I'm actually surprised that – you had Rodney Peete, some other guys here, Hundley, and there's been a lot of guys going through the program, I just didn't know that was the first time there's ever two matched up. But I think both those guys are tremendous football players and tremendous competitors.
How important is position versatility in today's college football landscape?
Well I think it's the nature of the game. You know, I think the game is starting to move a little bit towards more positionless things, especially on the defensive side of the ball, DBs play linebacker, linebackers play defensive line. You know, a lot of defensive lineman drop into coverage, so there's a lot of versatility as a positive in terms of what you can do cause I think it allows coaches to mix and match a little bit more. And it ends up being the same thing offensively, if you have a guy that can be a running back or a wide receiver that can be a running back or a running back that can be a wide receiver – Demetric Felton's a great example. Started out as a wide receiver here, finished as a running back. You know, Kaz and his ability to help us out when Zach couldn't play against Arizona State, that's part of the process. Colson Yankoff, who came in as a quarterback and has played wide receiver for us and is now playing running back, so that's kind of the nature of it. I think when you come out of high school, you're not exactly sure of what position you are and coaches, when they get you at the college level, are just trying to put you in positions where you can make plays, so.
Keegan Jones back?
Um, I'll see if he's gonna be available for practice.
Lincoln building USC through the portal so quickly the new normal?
I don't – I don't know what the new norm is. You just talked about a coach that never coached football before who's coaching in the NFL, so I couldn't tell you what the new norm is. And then I don't really worry about the new norm, I worry about – what do we worry about, Ben, having a good what?
A good Monday
Good Monday. I gotta go cause we've got walkthroughs
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