Who may be the next UCLA Football coach as Chip Kelly departs

Could he possibly become UCLA’s head coach in 2024?

Regarding Leiopld, there are a few factors to consider before considering him as a legitimate candidate to become the next UCLA football coach. One is the untruth that no football coach at Kansas has ever experienced a winning season. Former Kansas head football coach Mark Mangino led the Jayhawks to three bowl victories overall and went 12-1 with an Orange Bowl triumph in one season. In his five seasons as head coach of the Jayhawks, Mangino won six or more games. In his third year at Kansas, Leipold had his best overall record before this season.

In his second season at Kansas, Leipold recorded his best record of 6-7. He is currently in his third season in Lawerence.  To be fair to Leipold, though, his success last year was more than that of the four prior Kansas coaches combined, and this season he has Kansas with an 8-4 record.

Two, Leipold’s resume does not compare favorably to the accomplishments of the top coaching prospects that will be discussed in this article, he did not win the Big 12 this season and/or guide his team to a 10-win campaign. The 10-win season he guided Buffalo to in 2018 stands as his greatest accomplishment as a head coach. In both 2018 and 2020, he guided the Bulls to the MAC Championship game, however, they were defeated both times and were unable to win the MAC Championship.

Nobody is arguing that Leipold would not be a good football coach at Westwood if UCLA were to hire him in 2024. Leipold’s candidacy is a solid one, and UCLA and the athletic department will have to decide if they should give the possibility of hiring him significant consideration.

Do UCLA supporters want Leipold? Indeed, it would be challenging to locate a sizable portion of the UCLA fan population opposed to Leopold. The UCLA fan base would be ecstatic to see such an offense arrive in Los Angeles. Leipold quickly turned around a Kansas football team despite having many years of head coaching experience at the Power Five level.

Is it realistic to expect to land Leiopld? First off, Kansas will not receive the same amount of TV and media rights money from the Big 12 as UCLA will next season from joining the Big Ten. Does that imply that UCLA would be able to pay him more to coach the Bruins each year? UCLA will need to demonstrate that they can pay him more.

The second reason is that he is succeeding at Kansas and might not want to quit a successful program. He might also have a strong sense of school loyalty and want to stay in Lawrence, Kansas.