This year's arrival of Arizona's Kevin Sumlin, Arizona State's Herm Edwards and UCLA's Chip Kelly in the Pac-12 South marks the second time those schools have made coincidental coaching changes since Utah joined the conference.
Ute coach Kyle Whittingham is impressed with all of the newcomers. Yet when he was asked during the Pac-12 Media Day about competing against Kelly's offense, Whittingham changed the subject. “It still boils down to players,” he said. “Players are what it's all about. I'm more interested in what players are on which teams rather than who is coaching them.”
And that’s the challenge for Kelly, whose UCLA roster includes only eight seniors. The former Oregon coach, who’s back in the Pac-12 after stints with two NFL teams, no longer has an innovative edge. He went 46-7 at Oregon in 2009-12. As he said, “When I first came into the league there weren’t many spread offenses and we were the only team that had shiny helmets. And now everybody runs the spread offense and everybody has shiny helmets.”
PAC-12 PREVIEW
This is the 10th installment in a series about Pac-12 football teams in 2018. Today: UCLA.
Kelly’s long-term task is to raise UCLA’s level of recruiting. His immediate chore is developing a young team that faces a decent nonconference schedule with home games against Cincinnati and Fresno State and a trip to Oklahoma. The Bruins will host Utah on Oct. 26, a Friday night.
Six players, including running back Soso Jamabo, have been suspended for the Cincinnati game, UCLA announced Monday.
The Bruins will succeed if:
Kelly’s scheme gives them some advantage. The Bruins' quarterback will be freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson or third-year sophomore Devin Modster, who filled in for an injured Josh Rosen in a 48-17 loss to Utah.
Kelly says his offense is evolving, because “the game itself has changed … so you have to change with it.” He will have to outcoach his opponents, because none of UCLA's offensive position groups is ranked higher than No. 8 in the Pac-12 by Athlon Sports.
The Bruins won’t succeed if:
The schedule overwhelms them and opponents can run against them. UCLA’s secondary is ranked No. 4 in the conference, but that group won’t help them if teams don’t have to pass. Based on the official media poll, UCLA plays the toughest schedule in the Pac-12, missing Washington State and Oregon State, picked Nos. 5 and 6 in the North.
