Chip Kelly not concerned about his job status ahead of USC game
UCLA will be looking to bounce back from two straight losses this weekend as they face rival USC on Saturday, but looming in the background are rumors circulating regarding the job status of Bruins head coach Chip Kelly.
Kelly is in the midst of his sixth season with the Bruins, currently sitting at a perfect .500 during his tenure at UCLA with a 33-33 overall record and a 25-25 record versus Pac-12 opponents. Kelly’s predecessor Jim Mora was in similar shoes in 2017, finishing his six-year tenure with a 28-25 record in conference play and finding himself fired after losing to USC for a third consecutive season.
Kelly has a 2-3 record versus the Trojans in his time with UCLA, and seeing that during this week six years ago Mora was fired which led to his eventual hire, he was asked if he has any concerns regarding a similar fate coming his way.
“No, not at all, my concern is playing USC,” Kelly said. “That’s all we always focus on, we always talk about being the most prepared and the least distracted. So anything that’s not the next upcoming opponent is just distracting us from what our job is and our job is to take care of what we got to do this week in terms of our preparation for a really good football team.”
Kelly is rightfully trying to keep his attention on the Trojans to avoid a three-game losing skid, but is he also avoiding being in the hot seat in the process?
After a rough start to his tenure in Los Angeles with three straight losing seasons, Kelly turned things around in year four leading the Bruins to nine and eight-win seasons in the last two years and consecutive bowl appearances.
But the Bruins fanbase seems to want more, voicing their frustration with some boos early in the fourth quarter of their latest home loss. Which Kelly was also asked about on Monday, asked if he feels his support as a head coach has taken a hit from the fanbase lately.
“Not at all, and when you’re in the game I don’t think you hear anything from the crowd,” Kelly said. “You’re playing a game and trying to compete and win a football game, so I think if you do hear the crowd then you are distracted. So I didn’t hear or pay any attention to that.”
Kelly and the Bruins will look to continue blocking out the noise on Saturday when they face USC at 3:30 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on ABC.