Chip Kelly in no hurry to name UCLA’s starting quarterback

4-4 minutes 7/21/2023
LAS VEGAS — Seven Pac-12 teams made a clear statement and commitment to their starting quarterback when they were selected to come to the conference’s preseason media day this week.
UCLA was not among those seven teams and Coach Chip Kelly stated there’s “no set timetable” on when he will decide who the Bruins’ starting quarterback will be.
“I don’t know if there’s one thing,” Kelly said when asked what qualities he would take into account before naming a starter. “It’s really who we believe will give us the best chance to win going into the opening game.”
This will be Kelly’s first season without Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who finished his career as UCLA’s all-time leader in total offense (12,536 yards), completions (860), total touchdowns (116), touchdown passes (88) and passing yards (10,710). The five-year starter was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns in April.
Redshirt junior Ethan Garbers spent most of the spring camp working with the starting unit, followed by freshman Dante Moore and sophomore Justyn Martin, who shared second-team reps.
“I’m comfortable with all of them,” Bruins center Duke Clemens said. “They are all good guys. I can bond with any one of them, which is an asset to our team and how close we are.”
Kelly said this is the best quarterback depth he’s had entering his sixth season at UCLA. He added that he told the quarterbacks before the start of spring practice that a starter wasn’t going to be named during the spring and the goal was for them to improve.
“What I’m hopeful is over time with the training reps they get is that someone rises up a little bit over somebody else and it’s to the point that everyone can see that,” Kelly said. “It has to be won on the field.”
HONORING MCGOVERN
UCLA football will commemorate former defensive coordinator Bill McGovern, who died from cancer in May at the age of 60, with a decal on the players’ helmets this season.
The university will pay tribute to McGovern during an upcoming home game.
The players are already wearing workout shirts that read “We can do hard things” in McGovern’s memory.
“That was his personal motto,” Bruins linebacker Laiatu Latu said. “That was the motto he had for his family. Coach used to tell me he had it up on the wall in his house.”
As a result of his health, McGovern had moved into a new role as director of football administration this offseason.
“He filled that father-like role for a lot of people,” Latu said. “He was soft-spoken, but when it came down to the sport he showed his love and passion for it. … That’s why I loved him as I was being coached and mentored by him.”
FOCUSED ON THIS YEAR
Kelly stated that the program isn’t looking beyond this season as the university begins plans to transition to the Big Ten Conference next year.
“I don’t think it’s fair to Duke (Clemens) and the seniors,” Kelly said. “Our focus is on the 2023 season.
“We’ve had one Zoom meeting with the coaches and the football people in the Big Ten … but we will set our sights and ideas on that when we get to the postseason.”