UCLA coach Chip Kelly during looks on during a game against Hawaii on Aug. 28, 2021, at the Rose Bowl. (Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Last week at UCLA football practice, I asked Chip Kelly about Lincoln Riley’s “next-level” use of the transfer portal — a reference that anyone who is remotely engaged in following college football would understand.
“I don’t know what you mean by next level,” Kelly responded. “We’ve taken portal kids since we’ve been here, whether it’s Zach [Charbonnet], Obi Eboh or Cam Johnson. There’s not a team in college football that doesn’t use the portal. So I think it’s the level that everybody is using right now.”
Uh huh.
The funny thing about Kelly at this point in his career is that I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he was blissfully unaware that Riley had brought in 13 transfers during the four months he’s been the head coach at USC in an attempt to revamp a roster that had fallen well below the Trojans’ standard.
Given…