Chip Kelly proud of UCLA for LA Bowl win, 2023 season
Criticism seeped into the season at UCLA more than once over the course of this fall. Even so, with their win in the LA Bowl, the Bruins proved some things to Chip Kelly that are more valuable than any opinion outside of their building.
Kelly addressed if his program got any validation after winning 35-22 over Boise State this weekend inside SoFi Stadium for their first bowl win since 2014. He said no because, in the end, they have never once focused on anything but their preparation for the work at hand ahead of their next opportunity on the field.
“We don’t pay attention to that. These players can tell you that. We talk about being the most prepared and the least distracted. If we did pay attention to that? We would be distracted,” said Kelly in his postgame press conference. “It’s tough. I’m older and so that stuff really doesn’t bother me. I’m not a social media guy, can’t do that. I feel for our players at times because we used to be in the information age. We’re not in the information age anymore. We’re in the information overload age and I think you have to really kind of build a moat around your mind, allow the right things in.”
“I think these guys have stayed the course through everything. You just watch their performance today? I think they’ve really done that. It was just a challenge, I think, for them – not as much for me because I don’t pay attention to that,” Kelly continued. “I’ve never read anything, I don’t read the newspaper. That’s just because I’ve got a job to do. My job is to prepare these guys, create an environment where they have an opportunity to be successful, and then get out of their way and let them do it.”
Again, this season hasn’t always been easy in Pasadena. It has come with its fair shares of lows and woes, especially from the perspective of those on the outside looking in.
However, for how they responded in the LA Bowl, Kelly had a lot of pride in seeing UCLA close their season on a high note.
“We’ve had challenges. We’ve had challenges with adversity, we’ve had challenges with injuries. But we don’t make excuses nor do we let other people make excuses for us,” Kelly said. “This is life. What these guys showed today is that I’m really proud of them. I’m really proud of how they responded. That’s what a competitor does. A competitor responds, a non-competitor reacts. This group does it every single day.”
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“I think, as a football coach, you have to teach life lessons. Sometimes those life lessons are hard and you have to go through them as a group,” said Kelly. “We did.”
Some might not be pleased that the Bruins finished under .500 in the Pac-12. Others may be more annoyed that they finished losing four of their last seven and three of their final four.
Still, with an 8-4 finish overall, UCLA confirmed the only thing that Kelly is interested in. They proved that they’re in a quality place when compared to their recent history and have things to look forward to as the move into the Big Ten next year.
“The performance today by this group was special. It’s a truly special group,” Kelly said. “When you look at their statistics? This group won eight-plus games three years in a row. It’s the second time it has happened since 1988 at UCLA. That’s what I’m really proud of is what these guys did, how resilient they were, and to beat a really good Mountain West football team in Boise State.”
“I’m proud of how they performed,” said Kelly.