UCLA Football: Chip Kelly confirms the start date of fall camp
UCLA football head coach Chip Kelly confirmed the start of fall camp at Pac-12 Media Day and the total number of practices.
There was a lot of information that came out of Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday and new UCLA football coach Chip Kelly did not spare on certain details. One of the most important had to do with confirming the start date of fall camp.
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Today, Kelly finally made it known that the beginning of fall camp will be Friday, August 3 and will be divided into 25 individual practices, though the official schedule has not yet been released.
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Since taking over, Kelly has only had the spring to work with his new team, though that did not give him a clear enough picture of what he is dealing with.
Back in March and April, the new UCLA coach and his staff had to patch together offensive and defensive squads. Aside from dealing with players leaving, there were also an abnormal amount of players that were out with injuries. That should not be the case this fall.
When fall camp begins, Kelly expects to have most, if not all of his players ready to go. He will also be able to utilize the talents of prospective starters like TE Caleb Wison, DE/LB Jalean Phillips and LB Josh Woods, all of whom missed the entirety of spring.
Kelly will also be able to use several top freshmen which include QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, RB Kazmeir Allen, and OL Chris Murray. Not only do they bring a lot of talent to the roster, but they will also be a necessity as several position groups will be thin, forcing Kelly to play some youngsters early.
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Additionally, it has not yet been disclosed if practices will be open to the public. Though the new coach allowed fans to watch practices in the spring, chances are he will shut that down as he kicks preparations up a notch to get his new team ready for the 2018 season.