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What occurs when a college hires a coach as a result of he does the whole lot quick — run performs, win, heck, even talks — solely to have him ship a rebuilding course of that’s both painfully gradual or destined to by no means arrive?
We might discover out Saturday, when Chip Kelly and UCLA, stagnant for 3 seasons, host LSU in a sport that may function a referendum on, or maybe reboot for, the Bruin program.
Beat the Tigers on nationwide tv in entrance of an enormous residence crowd and Kelly might be on his strategy to having nobody care about his first three seasons yielding a measly 10 victories. These misplaced years can be recalled as a part of the method for lastly unlocking an apparent, but lengthy dormant, energy in Westwood.
However lose, particularly large, and the puzzlement continues of how and why this seemingly preferrred marriage of revolutionary coach and L.A. scorching spot hasn’t, and maybe by no means will, work out.
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(Oh, and if you wish to flip this round, LSU coach Ed Orgeron someway has nearly as a lot to show although he led the Tigers to a nationwide championship simply two years in the past. A 5-5 season in 2020 is sufficient that he’s teaching for his status as properly. That’s life within the SEC.)
“It’s an enormous sport,” Kelly mentioned on Monday. “A extremely, actually good soccer staff in LSU … It needs to be an important sport. One of many featured video games from a TV-standpoint this week.”
Kelly was fast to notice that LSU and its gamers are coping with far larger points than soccer. The devastation of Hurricane Ida despatched the Tigers to Houston this week and looms over all of their ideas.
A sport goes to be performed although, and it is the right alternative for Kelly to show he’s nonetheless the man he was on the College of Oregon from 2009-12. Nothing was gradual then.
He received quick — the Geese have been within the nationwide title sport his second season and he went 46-7 total.
He referred to as performs quick — when he jumped from Oregon to the NFL, his Philadelphia Eagles opened the season operating 4 performs within the first minute.
“I don’t suppose you will get an excessive amount of quicker than that,” Michael Vick, himself fairly quick, mentioned on the time.
He even talks quick — the barrage of verbiage makes it appear to be he’s making an attempt to get by all conversations as quickly as potential so he can return to drawing up performs.
After 4 seasons within the NFL and one 12 months with ESPN, Kelly determined to return to the school ranks. Florida and Tennessee needed him, however he selected UCLA. The mix of Kelly’s offense and proficient Southern California recruits appeared not possible to fail.
Then his first three years yielded a 10-21 document.
However even when the fanfare of his rent was contemporary, Kelly was preaching persistence.
It is simply few took Kelly critically when he spoke about not chasing recruiting rankings, however discovering gamers who would match contained in the system and on campus. Or they rolled their eyes when he talked about being “process-driven” and never results-obsessed.
They figured the victories would come. They only haven’t.
Loads might change on Saturday although. UCLA appeared nice beating Hawaii, 44-10, final week for the eleventh win of the Kelly period. They even did it operating a vanilla offense that LSU couldn’t scout.
Blowing out Hawaii doesn’t guarantee UCLA is an effective staff, however good groups would blow out Hawaii. Possibly most significantly, they appeared like a Chip Kelly staff — powerful to cease on the run, ball hawking on protection, a number of velocity, properly coached and basically sound.
Nobody was extra spectacular than operating again Zach Charbonnet, who had 106 yards and three touchdowns on simply six first half carries.
“The child’s a beast,” mentioned linebacker Bo Calvert. “He’s going to run by individuals’s faces.”
Charbonnet is from Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, however selected Michigan over UCLA out of highschool solely to switch final offseason.
“We swung a miss the primary time and hit the second,” Kelly mentioned.
He represents a switch heavy roster that’s each skilled and proficient. It’s what Kelly says he desires — a part of constructing the right staff.
After 4 seasons, he has no excuse however to have constructed it. The duty at hand will not be simple. LSU is large, quick and proficient throughout the board. They received the 2019 nationwide title for a motive. And UCLA will want much more from quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Nonetheless, that is UCLA. That is Chip Kelly’s UCLA, truly. 4 years in, it was anticipated to win these sorts of video games. It’s time to indicate it.
“I don’t suppose it will get any larger than this,” Thompson Robinson mentioned.
Not throughout the Kelly period it hasn’t. They’ve misplaced so usually there hasn’t been a very large sport but. But it surely’s right here now, mighty LSU within the Rose Bowl simply as UCLA appears to be like like UCLA was purported to look, giving Chip an opportunity to show that gradual is the brand new quick.
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