UCLA Football: Pac-12 Champs in 2019? National contenders in 2020?

The UCLA football team might not do damage in Year 1 of the Chip Kelly era, but they should make significant improvements in Year 2 and beyond. At this point, they have to.

You don’t start putting paint on the house until you have the foundation laid. You don’t start picking out curtains until the blueprints have been completed. And you sure don’t start bragging about your wallpaper before you have walls. This is how it goes for the house that Chip Kelly is building. There will eventually be success for the UCLA football team, but it will take some time.

There has to be success. That is exactly what Chip Kelly was hired for.

It doesn’t matter if the Bruins finish 4-8 or 8-4 in Year 1, the real work will start after Kelly’s inaugural season.

In 2018, Kelly will implement and evolve the uptempo run-based spread offense that he made popular during his time at Oregon. Unfortunately, and this is not a knock on players from the Jim Mora era, he needs his own players to run his system.

The good thing about the players that are returning is that they bring consistency, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, but there is a lot talent on both offense and defense, several of which will be key to UCLA’s success in the next few years.

On the down side, there have also been casualties as several players have left the team since Kelly took over. Essentially, it was just not a good fit. But think about this, there is a reason why the majority of players from last season have stayed. They fit the system.

Regardless of who he has on the roster at the present time, the team is going in a completely different direction and everyone needs to get in line. But once again, that will take time.

Kelly can be successful from the start of his tenure, but he doesn’t have to. He will been given plenty of space to work out his masterplan. If you look close enough, you can see the wheels turning inside of his head. A plan is being formulated and though it may not make sense right now, the results will speak for themselves.

UCLA did not just drop $12 million dollars to terminate Jim Mora for any ol’ coach out there. They did it to get the BEST coach. And because he is the best coach, he needs to win championships.

“Results” is the keyword. Come Year 2 and 3, results will be needed. UCLA did not just drop $12 million dollars to terminate Jim Mora for any ol’ coach out there. They did it to get the BEST coach. And because he is the best coach (forgive my hyperbole, especially those reading this from SEC country, I’m just trying to make a point), he needs to win championships. He needs to make UCLA football relevant again. He needs to win.

Kelly has proven that he can win and win now. In his first year as the Oregon Ducks’ head coach, he led them to a 10-3 record and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

In the next three years he went to the BCS Championship Game, another Rose Bowl and a Fiesta Bowl, amassing a 46-7 record in the process. Though he had a two year head start as Oregon’s offensive coordinator to accomplish this, it is still quite a feat for a first time Division I head coach.

Though he doesn’t have that luxury with UCLA, the one advantage he does have in comparison is that he already has college and professional coaching experience. He knows how he wants his program run and that is how it is going to run.

So after this first year, the creases will be ironed out. Players will leave, players will enter. It will be an on-going process. The goal is to become contenders. By Year 2, UCLA should already be starting down that path. It also helps that the Bruins have an easier schedule in Year 2 as the Bruins drop Oregon and Washington in 2019 and welcome back Oregon State and Washington State to the docket.

It seems UCLA is set up for success at that point. It is not delusional to expect a Pac-12 Championship the season after next. Knowing how Kelly has constructed teams in the past, he could arguably make UCLA national contenders by year 3. He made Oregon contenders in Year 2, so it can be done.

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And for those of you screaming at me through your computers about how these predictions are too soon or I should wait and see what happens in Year 1 before making bold claims about Year 2 and 3 and so on… believe me, I am with you. I also want to see how this plays out, but it is in Kelly’s best interest to aim for these goals sooner than later. If Kelly was to win the Pac-12 Championship, he gets a $50,000 bonus, per his contract.

If Kelly makes a New Years’ Six Bowl Game, he gets an extra $100,000… double that if he wins the game. If he makes it to the College Football Playoff, he gets $100,000. If he makes it to the National Championship, he gets $150,000. That is bumped up to $200,000 if he wins the whole thing.

So there is a monetary incentive to making UCLA relevant… but that is not what drives Kelly (okay, maybe a little). Kelly is a proven winner and he wants to continue winning. That is why UCLA will be relevant sooner than later. This is about glory, legacy, being the best. Kelly did not come to Westwood to go 6-6 every year and that is certainly not why UCLA hired him.

Next: UCLA Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2018 season

For a football program that has been underachieving for so long, a program that has a rich history of success, hiring Kelly was the best thing to get back to those old ways. There is already a buzz about the Bruins. They are getting attention like never before. We are all just waiting to see what happens next. Go Bruins.