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Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that UCLA has reached an agreement with Chip Kelly to make Kelly the Bruins’ next football coach.
A formal announcement is expected this morning and Kelly’s introductory press conference is expected to be held early next week.
Terms of Kelly’s deal are not yet known.
Bolch mentions that Kelly could also bring Mark Helfrich, who was his offensive coordinator at Oregon, and UC Berkeley’s defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro, who worked under Kelly at Oregon, the Eagles and the 49ers, to Westwood as assistant coaches.
This marks the first time in the post-Donahue era where UCLA has landed its first choice for a football head coach and, while Kelly’s previous NCAA troubles may give some of us (myself included) cause for concern, this is definitely an exciting time for all Bruin fans.
UPDATE (11/25 8:40am): Bruce Feldman is reporting that the deal is for 5 years and totals $23.3 million with a $9 million reciprocal buyout.
Chip Kelly agreed to a five-year contract worth $23.3M with a $9M reciprocal buyout. #UCLA
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 25, 2017
More as this story develops....
Go Bruins!