Former San Francisco 49ers head coach, Chip Kelly, is reportedly finalizing a deal to fill the vacant coaching job at UCLA. He is expected to be announced as the football program's head coach over the weekend.
Update: The UCLA football program has officially announced Kelly as its new head coach. He gets a five-year contract worth $23.3 million.
Chip Kelly is the new head coach for UCLA Football.
Full story: https://t.co/JNfJXqCSUr#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/do8uaUpR4j
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) November 25, 2017
The Bruins fired coach Jim Mora on Sunday following the school's third-straight loss to cross-town rival USC.
Kelly met with Florida officials on Sunday and UCLA officials on Tuesday and was in the running for both vacancies. He reportedly turned down interest from Tennessee and Nebraska. On Friday, Florida moved on from Kelly as its potential next head coach to focus on other candidates.
Before his time in the NFL, Kelly guided Oregon to three Pac-12 Conference titles, four consecutive BCS bowl appearances, and competed in the 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. In four seasons with the Ducks, he compiled a record of 46-7.
Kelly's NFL run was not as successful. He had a combined record of 28-36 during three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and a single season with the 49ers.
Kelly was fired by the 49ers on January 1 following the team's final game of the 2016 season. Like his predecessor, Jim Tomsula, Kelly lasted just one season with San Francisco. The 49ers finished the 2016 season with a 2-14 record and an offense that ranked 27th in scoring, 31st in total yards, and last in passing yards. Also fired with Kelly was general manager Trent Baalke.
The 49ers replaced Baalke with John Lynch and then hired Kyle Shanahan to succeed Kelly.
Since being fired by the 49ers, Kelly has been working as a studio analyst with ESPN providing college football coverage. The network has already announced that Kelly will not appear during this weekend's coverage.
