UCLA football: Bruins reportedly make decision on Chip Kelly’s contract
By Ethan Lee
It appears as if the UCLA Bruins have made up their mind on UCLA football head coach Chip Kelly as they decided to extend his contract.
Expect to see Chip Kelly leading the UCLA football program for a few more years.
While some thought the Bruins would end up parting ways with the head coach of the UCLA football program at various different moments over the past few years, it seems like Kelly has done enough to stick around for a little while longer.
According to a tweet from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, the Bruins are giving their head coach a four-year contract extension.
BREAKING Chip Kelly has agreed to a new contract with UCLA, per sources. The 4-year deal has been in the works for the past few weeks. Kelly led the Bruins to an 8-4 record in 2021. It is the best record UCLA has had since 2014.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 14, 2022
The contract extension will keep Kelly at UCLA through the 2025 season (unless something happens between now and then).
Chip Kelly has agreed to a new, 4-year contract to remain at #UCLA, a person familiar with the decision tells @247Sports. His contract buyout was set to drop to $0 Saturday, but UCLA and Kelly committed to remain together. (@BruceFeldmanCFB first)https://t.co/g8JoeQo9Qi pic.twitter.com/FnSDMpxpli
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) January 14, 2022
According to a report from ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, Kelly will be paid an average of $4.7 million a year over the term of this contract.
UCLA football: Bruins give Chip Kelly four-year contract extension
The Bruins have made considerable progress under Kelly’s leadership. While he hasn’t been able to turn UCLA into a national power during his first few seasons with the Bruins, he has made the competitive in the Pac-12 and has his program improving steadily.
Kelly is heading into his fifth season with the Bruins. His first three years were largely unsuccessful as UCLA posted a record of 10-21 from 2018 through 2020. However, in 2021, UCLA took a considerable step forward, finishing with an 8-4 record and finally looking fairly respectable as a whole.
Kelly and the Bruins will face some increased competition in the Pac-12 as the USC Trojans just landed Lincoln Riley.
However, Riley isn’t stepping into a USC program that is without issue. The Trojans have a few issues of their own to address, but Kelly can’t afford to get complacent if he wants to get a competitive advantage over his younger contemporary.
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