Social media reaction to Chip Kelly leaving UCLA for vacated Ohio State offensive coordinator job
It has been the worst-kept secret in football. Chip Kelly wanted out of Westwood. He had been interviewing for every NFL offensive coordinator job that has come up in the past weeks and everyone knew his days at UCLA were numbered. Going to Ohio State, however, is not what anyone would have expected a few weeks ago.
Nobody predicted how this would all play out. Bill O’Brien was hired as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State on January 18, but he took the vacant Boston College coaching position Friday morning and the college football coaching dominoes began to fall again. Within an hour, rumors of Kelly stepping down at UCLA to take O’Brien’s place began to surface. Later that afternoon it was confirmed that Kelly was out at UCLA and on his way to Columbus. It is a huge blow to UCLA’s athletic director, Martin Jarmond, and a proud Bruin athletic department as they enter the Big Ten for their inaugural season.
It was an inevitable end that had played out with a surprise conclusion. Here is how social media reacted to the news:
Will Chip dust off the triple option with the potent Buckeye backfield?
Imagine this Chip Kelly triple option at Ohio State with Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson…🧃
pic.twitter.com/Ve6AMMT1XD— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) February 9, 2024
UCLA coaching search begins...
Chip Kelly is off to Ohio State. UCLA is hustling to find its new head coach. David Shaw? PJ Fleck? DeShaun Foster? D’Anton Lynn? We size up the Bruins coaching search: https://t.co/X18lmmnh9Rhttps://t.co/X18lmmnh9R
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 9, 2024
USC's recommendation...
There’s only one man that checks all of those boxes: https://t.co/PIOwsAiROf pic.twitter.com/zE5bJrM2Jv
— Arrogant Nation✌🏻 (@FightOnRusty) February 9, 2024
Indictment of UCLA's football program?
Chip Kelly has opted to become an OC for a Big-10 opponent rather than coach the UCLA football team. Pretty damning. https://t.co/Kg01kKCdGF
— RichSC (@OriginalRichSC) February 9, 2024
Win - Win?
So many layers of wild to Chip Kelly's departure
Unthinkable for a Power 5 head coach to give up being a HC to be a P5 OC
But UCLA fans wanted Chip fired anyways, so they're justifiably (as Brits say) not that arsed
Even so this is still a monumental fuck up by UCLA's admin
— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) February 9, 2024
Who dropped the ball?
Casey Wasserman has to own part of this. One of the least productive head coaches in UCLA football leaves on a Friday afternoon in February after signing day. Wasserman spooked the administration in November when he went public supporting Chip Kelly and refused $$ for the buyout
— Tony Siracusa (@TonyBruin) February 9, 2024
He did what?
Unbelievable . pic.twitter.com/22ne6I32lj
— USC J (@USCJ32) February 9, 2024
Dominoes...
Wait…
Joe Barry is eventually let go by the Packers and they hire Jeff Hafley from BC.
Bill O’Brien takes the BC head coaching position in place of Hafley, leaving the Ohio state OC position open.
Chip Kelly leaves UCLA for the OSU OC.So I… I have to thank Joe Barry? pic.twitter.com/zDyEWA2R1u
— Ryan Alexander (@ryanramoneda) February 9, 2024
Mad dash
Chip Kelly when he saw that Ohio State OC job open up pic.twitter.com/apfUXT6bLL
— The Victory Bell (@VictoryBellOSU) February 9, 2024
Blown away
"Chip Kelly going to Ohio State blew me away..
He interviewed for the University of Cincinnati job last year and he didn't get that job"@mlombardiNFL #PMSLiVe pic.twitter.com/Z4iuTI7D64
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 9, 2024
Ohio State-Oregon intrigue
Chip loses to ohio state at oregon now he joins them to try and beat oregon in autzen next year what a pathetic move
— Osp (@OspTheOG) February 9, 2024
UCLA inferiority
What a horrible, crippling precedent that sets for UCLA as such an inferior program to a now conference competitor
— Pistol Pete⏱ (@PeteOfTheMoment) February 9, 2024
UCLA, not CFB, is broken
wait what, Chip Kelly is leaving UCLA to become just an OC in Ohio… college football is broken!
— Out Fox Sports (@MarkHolder27) February 9, 2024
Unhappy Chip
This obviously isn’t about a promotion or demotion debate he clearly isn’t happy at UCLA?
— palebluedottalk (@palebluedottalk) February 9, 2024
Dollars!
UCLA could have fired Chip Kelly at the end of the year, incurring an $8.5 million buyout.
Instead, UCLA procrastinated and let Ohio State pay *them* $1.5 million to get rid of Chip.
Bruins are out here playing chess, not checkers. pic.twitter.com/MpglC4a0ZK
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) February 9, 2024
Many agree
Personally I feel Chip Kelly is a better fit at OC for Ohio State than Bill O’Brien would have been.
— FFBuck (@FFbuckCLE) February 9, 2024
Salty Ducks
Not gonna lie, I’m salty that Ohio State got Chip Kelly. He’s not HC material anymore but he’s still an offensive mind you’d love to have.
— Austin 🦆 (@deviousduck_) February 9, 2024
Haves and Have-Nots
Ohio State is finalizing the hire of Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, and it may be the starkest example yet of how the haves in college football are pulling away from the have-nots.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 9, 2024
Safe Seahawks
Seahawks marked safe from chip kelly
— CANT GUARD ANA 🏈 (@FootballGirlAna) February 9, 2024
Mishandled
Adios Chip it’s way overdue… and @MartinJarmond seems like a great guy, but the mishandling of this seems bad. Imagine all the great head coach candidates @UCLAFootball missed out on by not letting him go. That said, I’d guess this saves us 💵💵💵 though. Who takes over now?
— overturnH8 (@overturnH8) February 9, 2024
Exit Ramp
Chip Kelly: “What you listening too?”
UCLA Player: “Hey coach, just some Midwest emo. You wanna hear it?”
Chip Kelly: “Sure, why not.”
*one week later*
Chip Kelly: “I NEED TO GET TO OHIO STATE ASAP!!!” pic.twitter.com/b0MmAbQoZt
— Mike Zimmelman (@MZimmel) February 9, 2024
