2018 Early Signing Period: Chip Kelly Is “Really, Really Excited” About UCLA Recruits

As was expected, yesterday and today was a quiet day recruiting-wise for UCLA. No additional recruits have signed a National Letter of Intent since Stephan Blaylock was announced Wednesday night.

That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any news.

There sure was. That’s because new UCLA head coach Chip Kelly met with the media yesterday for the first time since being introduced last month.

For his part, Kelly offered a little bit of a glimpse into what folks should expect from Kelly and he seems to prefer to focus on the things he has control over, rather than the things he can’t control.

Unlike other coaches, he refuses to get worked up over whether the Early Signing Period is good or bad for UCLA, recruits or college football.

I think sometimes people spend their brains on stuff that they don't have any control over. I don’t have any control over it. So, I don't like it or dislike it. If that's the way it is, that's the way it is. So, there are a lot of people that were...you know...”I'd like to do this. I'd like to do that.” It's the same person that goes to the restaurant and complains about where the bathrooms located. Well, you're not the architect. You're just trying to order dinner. So, I'm not I'm not into “What is it? What isn't it?” This is the rule. Let's just follow it. If there’s an early signing date, let’s get ready for an early signing date.

Overall, Kelly sounded pretty happy about the quality and the fit of the guys who did sign with UCLA.

We got eight guys. I think they're quality [guys]. They're all local except one kid from Oregon. So, they're all California kids. There was a good relationship. I think we knew about these guys, meaning the people that were here, you know, Jimmy Doherty, specifically, with the receivers that we had recruited, whether it's Kyle Phillips or Brian or Chase. He had been recruiting them for a long time. So, there was a familiarity with them....

All eight of them have really good qualities. They're all really good people. I think that was, first and foremost, when you meet them. I mean, there's a maturity to this class of the eight guys we have right now that are pretty squared away. I think one of the reasons they probably chose this place is because they understand the rigors that this place has academically They also understand the opportunities that they'll have when they graduate from here with a degree. Sp, all eight of them...I was really, really excited about that we had a chance to get them, especially in this early period, and it's a great group...a great foundation to build upon.

He also spent some time talking about the recruiting processes that were in place and how that foundation made it much easier for him to evaluate the talent when he came in. He specifically cited all the information, the technology and the familiarity the staff had with guys UCLA is recruiting.

Overall, that says a lot about how the football staff has gone about recruiting over the years. And, it certainly made it easier for Coach Kelly and his guys to determine who they wanted to pursue and who they will continue to pursue over the next month and a half or so.

Thanks to Thuc Nhi Nguyen of InsideSoCal.com for sharing the video of Coach Kelly.

Here’s hoping that Coach Kelly and staff can continue building on the class they have so far.


Go Bruins!!!