‘This is awful’: Chip Kelly’s tenure at UCLA off to a rocky start

It's time to check in on Chip Kelly, the former Eagles head coach whose first season at UCLA isn't exactly going as planned.

Kelly, who went 46-7 during four seasons as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, has led the Bruins to an 0-3 start this season, losing twice at home to Group of Five teams. The last time UCLA started the season 0-3 dates back 47 years to 1971, and the reviews coming from national outlets haven't exactly been kind.

"Chip Kelly Is Only Three Games Into His College Return And It's Already Getting Sloppy," was the Deadspin headline on a dive into Kelly's first three games. "UCLA fired Jim Mora for this?" was the lede in Los Angeles Times columnist Helen Elliott's piece lamenting the apparent lack of progress.

"I did not expect the Bruins to win the Pac-12 in Kelly's first season, but this is awful," longtime Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel said on the Yahoo Sports College Podcast. "Chip was once an offensive genius. I don't even know how this is possible."

During the team's 38-14 loss at home to Fresno State on Saturday, UCLA ran a total of just 55 plays and gained a total of just 270 yards. At one point, Kelly, appearing a bit frustrated, confronted freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson on the sideline after a interception.

"We always talk between series," Kelly told reporters after the game. "It's easy to second-guess and coach from the sidelines and the stands, but you don't see it the same way the quarterback sees it."

To make matters worse, Thompson-Robinson's father, Michael Robinson, went after Kelly on Twitter after the game, calling his success at Oregon "a fluke" and blaming his son's poor play on "lousy coaching and play calling."

It was always going to be an uphill climb for Kelly, whom UCLA landed with a five-year, $24 million contract after the former Eagles and 49ers coach spent a year as an ESPN analyst. The program has been in decline since 2015, the last year the team had a winning record, and there’s a reason UCLA fired Mora after the 2017 season. But Kelly’s team has seemed particularly sloppy during its winless start, piling up penalties (11 for 96 yards on Saturday) and making simple mistakes.

"No one expected Kelly to work miracles, but it's fair to expect his team to make progress in maintaining discipline and poise," Elliott wrote about UCLA's disappointing start. "Those have to be in place before the wins come, whenever they might come."

Kelly, who went 28-35 in just less than four seasons coaching in the NFL (including 26-21 with the Eagles), isn't the only former ESPN analyst to take a head coaching job in college football this season. Over at Arizona State, the season is off to a better start for Fort Monmouth, N.J., native Herman Edwards, who has led the Sun Devils to a 2-1 start. The team's only loss of the season came against San Diego State, after a controversial call overturned a 48-yard completion that would have put Arizona State at the 2-yard-line with just 6 seconds left.

"I love the way we fought back to maybe having a chance to win it," Edwards told reporters after the game.

Despite the poor start and upcoming games against Colorado, Washington, and California, Kelly told reporters he wasn't feeling deflated about his return to college football.

“No one feels sorry for you … What did we do wrong and how do we improve upon that and learn from it and grow,” Kelly said. “That’s what our whole process is with these guys.”