Greg McElroy claims Chip Kelly departure gives off impression UCLA is a stepping stone

Greg McElroy looked at UCLA and claimed the Chip Kelly departure could give off a negative impression of the football program.

Kelly left his head coaching position to take the offensive coordinator gig at Ohio State under Ryan Day, his former protege. UCLA hired DeShaun Foster, a Bruins legend, as their new head coach.

While the Bruins might be in a good spot with Foster, the outside perception doesn’t look great.

“It’s a crushing blow because it gives off the impression that your school is a stepping stone,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Whether it’s true or untrue, however you feel, it gives off a negative impression. So, going in-house to a guy that has had success as a player, that has walked those halls, he’s gonna be able to connect with those guys immediately. And he takes over a program that’s won eight games in three consecutive years. 

“So it’s not like he’s stepping into a spot where the program is just in shambles. He’s walking into a situation that’s actually pretty good. And I think they actually might, maybe not, have momentum next year, but I do think there’s reason to believe that UCLA can find some success and their tenure at the Big Ten.”

Despite being, perhaps, underwhelming at times on the field and in the recruiting department, Kelly led UCLA to three straight eight win seasons. It seemed like the Bruins were on decent footing heading into the Big Ten.

“Granted, we have not seen consistency from UCLA, but we’ve seen pockets of success,” McElroy said. “Whether it was when Bob Toledo went to consecutive BCS bowl games in the late 90s, whether it was when Karl Dorrell  won 10 games in 2005. What Jim Mora did, 10 games in both 2013 and 2014, but then, of course, a couple years later, he goes 4-8 and he’s out the door. Chip Kelly did a pretty good job there as well. 

“So I think UCLA is a place that you can win. So they bring in a guy that’s going to be able to relate to the player that’s gonna be able to get the players to buy in and a guy that after a very difficult situation from a perception standpoint, having one of your own, come back and lead the program forward, I think will rally those that support the UCLA football program, so I loved it.”