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UCLA Football: Where does the offense go from here? Recap and outlook

By Mike Regalado

TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins reacts during the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins reacts during the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Where does the offense go from here? (cont.)

“So where do we go from here? Just about anywhere!” -REFUSED

The only thing that is certain with the offense next year is that the UCLA football team will lose QB Wilton Speight. Other than that, if no one declares for the NFL Draft early, the Bruins return nearly every O-lineman, Dorian Thompson-Robinson will take over the offense, Kelley will guide the running game with the help of Martell Irby and Kazmeir Allen, the receiving game has Caleb Wilson (stay one more year, yeah?), Theo Howard and up-and-comers Chase Cota, Michael Ezeike, Devin Asiasi, and Kyle Phillips, just to name a few.

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So the roster is stacked. That is the first bit of good news. The second is the fact that Chip Kelly will continue to tinker with his offense. In Year 1, Kelly was working with players that did not exactly fit his scheme, but he made it work as he used their skills to his advantage.

Along with continually reshaping his offense game-to-game, expect him to reshape it from season-to-season, especially when he starts to bring in more and more of “his players”.

Speaking of game plan, what will Kelly do? honest answer, I have no clue, but if 2018 was any indication, it looks like he is going to utilize both the run and pass to get his team downfield. UCLA was able to get a lot of yards on the ground (see USC) and throw for a ton of yards (see Stanford), so the options are limitless.

What it boils down to is that Kelly is making this a numbers game. Kelly is going to use different looks, pre-snap motions, formations, players, and plays to try and get an advantage over his opponents. If there is an advantage in the box, he will run. If the open space benefits him, look for the Bruins to go to the air.

Next. The 30 Greatest UCLA Football Players of All-Time. dark

The 2018 season was a roller coaster, but we can expect 2019 to be a little more consistent, especially since the Bruins return a lot of players that know how to run the system. That is why Phase (Year) 2 of the Chip Kelly project at UCLA should be very exciting to watch.