Wait, what? Chip Kelly’s ‘process’ is costing UCLA $1.59M per win?!

In a gut-wrenching piece published by Los Angeles Times writer Ben Bloch, it was pointed out that UCLA Bruins head coach Chip Kelly will have been paid at least $11.1 million in base salary from the school at the end of the year.

Let’s say he wins no more games, and for the sake of argument, loses no more games. He’s compiled a record of 7-18 as the head coach and as such — those wins are costing the program $1.59 million the article’s math points out.

I took it a bit further and looked at it the other way around: UCLA is paying Chip Kelly roughly $616,666.67 per loss.

That’s some sweet action.

Bloch over at the LA Times discussed what Kelly meant when he remarked earlier this week about “our whole focus here has never been on the outcome, it’s about the process.” Directing a poignant question to the third-year head coach of the Bruins.

Kelly’s response was, well, something.

“I didn’t say that at all,” Kelly said Wednesday. “I said that our whole process is about the process. I think if you study people that are successful, people that focus on the outcome get distracted. When you focus on the process — and what I mean by the process is, how do we improve on a daily basis? How do we improve on a Wednesday and what do we do on Wednesday? So we’re not thinking about the game on Saturday, we’re thinking about Wednesday. That’s what we mean about the process.”

Compounding matters is the fact that at year’s end, or as of right now, Kelly’s contract buyout is $9 million as that is what he is owed through January 15, 2022. UCLA is also massively in debt and the pandemic did nothing to aid that.

There are complicated waters ahead of what happens with the UCLA football program under Kelly, whether they remain under Kelly, what the process becomes after Kelly leaves and whether or not the process will ultimately begin to bear fruit.

Are you for the process — or are you for the results at the end of the day?