UCLA coach Chip Kelly expected to become Ohio State offensive coordinator after informing Bruins of departure

UCLA coach Chip Kelly is departing the program after six seasons, the school announced Friday, with the expectation that he will become the next offensive coordinator at Ohio State, according to multiple reports. The Buckeyes hired Bill O’Brien in January to lead the offense, but O’Brien is now nearing a deal to become the next coach at Boston College, an unexpected vacancy itself after coach Jeff Hafley left to become the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator.

“I want to sincerely thank Chip for his service to UCLA Football and our student-athletes across the past six seasons and wish the best to him and his wife Jill moving forward,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said in a statement. 

Kelly, who has a reported buyout of $1.5 million, leaves Los Angeles with a 35-34 overall record just as the Bruins prepare to join Ohio State in the Big Ten in time for the 2024 season. UCLA peaked with nine wins under Kelly in 2022. He previously had a run as the coach at Oregon — also Big Ten bound this offseason — from 2009-12 that included a BCS National Championship appearance in 2010.

In heading to Ohio State, Kelly would reunite with Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, who played at New Hampshire during Kelly’s lengthy run there as an assistant. The two have also coached together on multiple occasions, most recently in 2016 during Kelly’s lone season guiding the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Day served as San Francisco’s quarterbacks coach that year. 

If hired by the Buckeyes, Kelly — once seen as arguably the most innovative offensive mind in the sport — will be tasked with turning around an offense that took a step back (by recent standards) in 2023. The Buckeyes averaged fewer than 40 points per game for the first time since 2016, and while they still won 11 games, they fell to rival Michigan for the third straight year and watched the Wolverines go on to win the Big Ten title and, this time, the national title. Mounting pressure and scrutiny led to Day taking actions that included handing off play-calling duties and adding a handful of key players via the transfer portal in hopes of a bounce-back 2024 campaign. 

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