Chip Kelly evaluates Collin Schlee's transition to UCLA quarterback room

Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins head into the offseason needing to find a new starting quarterback. Last year’s starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson left for the NFL after the season was over. One of the possible candidates to earn the starting quarterback spot is Kent State transfer, Collin Schlee.

Following a UCLA spring practice, Kelly gave his assessment of Schlee’s transition into UCLA’s offense and quarterback room.

“Yeah, I think Collin’s unique in the fact that he’s probably played the most snaps at the quarterback position at the Division One level… because he was a starter at Kent State,” said Kelly.

“The transition for Colin, different than some other people, is just terminology. So, he’s run whatever concepts we run, but they may have called it differently. So it’s just, we call it this, you call it that. You know, how do I transition and train it so when he’s up there, he’s not thinking; he’s just reacting to how it’s going.”

Schlee comes to UCLA with two years of eligibility remaining after entering the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 6. He spent three seasons at Kent State but took over as the starter last season. And all he did, after winning the starting nod, was put together one of the best performances at quarterback for the Golden Flashes in recent history. Schlee finished the year completing 157 of his 266 attempts with 2,109 yards passing, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

“But he’s done a really good job; he’s sharp, he’s a student when it comes to football. He was a really good basketball player coming out of high school… so he’s got a real good understanding of spatial awareness and a lot of things that basketball will do. He’s done a really nice job, and you can see him getting better and stronger mentally every day just because he’s more comfortable in what we’re doing. But he has a great grasp of football and offensive football in general. So, just get the terminology down and just getting comfortable so he’s just not thinking when he’s up there taking us out.”

Schlee played high school football at Oakdale in Ijamsville, MD, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 1951 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Schlee didn’t have any Power Five scholarship offers coming out of high school. But after putting together an impressive campaign in 2022, he’s earned an opportunity to play against some of the best in college football in the Pac-12 at UCLA.