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UCLA Football: Reports indicate Florida has backed out of Chip Kelly race

By Michael Chavez

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 25: Head coach Chip Kelly of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to a play during the third quarter of the game against the Seattle Seahawksat CenturyLink Field on September 25, 2016 in Seattle,Washington. The Seahawks won the game 37-18. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 25: Head coach Chip Kelly of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to a play during the third quarter of the game against the Seattle Seahawksat CenturyLink Field on September 25, 2016 in Seattle,Washington. The Seahawks won the game 37-18. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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It was reported today that the University of Florida has dropped out of the race for Chip Kelly’s services meaning the likelihood of him becoming the next UCLA Football is extremely high.

If we flashback to about a month ago the chances of the Bruins firing Jim Mora as the head coach of the UCLA Football program before the end of the season was almost unimaginable. That’s not a UCLA thing to do at all. And as much as Chip Kelly seemed a great fit for the Bruins, their personnel and the PAC-12, no one thought there was a real chance to bring him aboard.

Especially with Mora seemingly entrenched.

Related Story: UCLA Football: Chip Kelly expected to choose between UCLA and Floria

Come back to this black Friday and we find ourselves in that exact scenario. Yahoo!’s Pat Forde has reported that the University of Florida, who was UCLA’s biggest competitor in terms of landing Kelly’s services, has backed out and will pursue other options. Meaning we should be expecting a Chip Kelly announcement in the very near future.

With it appearing that Kelly is leaning very heavily towards accepting the UCLA Football head coach job the Bruins should be able to immediately hit the ground running in terms of recruiting especially with the new early signing period taking effect this year in December. Obviously there are questions about the coaching staff and who would Kelly likely replace.

If the Bruins are able to land Kelly and make it official it would buck a major trend in the UCLA style of hiring coaches with some feeling that the current athletic department choosing complacency over excellence. UCLA has an abundance of natural resources and the idea that the Bruins haven’t capitalized on those resources (location,location,name-brand, location) is very upsetting.

Next: UCLA Football: Will Chip Kelly take the head coaching job?

Keep it locked into Go Joe Bruin and we will bring you updates to Chip Kelly watch 2017 as they become available.