UCLA’s Chip Kelly incorporates NFL mindset at college level

PUBLISHED August 4, 2023 at 2:34 p.m. | UPDATED: August 4, 2023 at 7:20 p.m.
LOS ANGELES — UCLA football coach Chip Kelly has taken a pro-style approach with the Bruins and it’s continued to produce results.
Kelly coached in the NFL from 2013 to 2016 as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. He runs his team practices in a similar manner to his time in the NFL and the players have bought in to the process.
“They are very close because of what we’ve learned over time about how to train and being in the NFL was a great learning experience,” Kelly said. “We also have some guys on our staff. … There’s a lot of correlation.”
UCLA’s coaching staff is made up of individuals who can help distribute knowledge and information based on experience.
Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, with nine years of NFL coaching experience, including one season with his father and former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, is the latest to join the Bruins.
“He’s been awesome and provided a new perspective on what he sees from the game and bringing his NFL knowledge,” UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson said. “Coach Lynn has breathed football ever since he was young.”
Inside linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., after starring at linebacker for UCLA, spent time as a player and coach in the league. He’s been a defensive coordinator for the then-Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
Offensive line coach Tim Drevno spent three years with the San Francisco 49ers.
Associate head coach DeShaun Foster played for five years as a running back with the Carolina Panthers. Since becoming UCLA’s running backs coach in 2017, the Bruins have had a running back drafted in each of the past four seasons.
Foster remains in touch with his former players and invited some of his recent draftees back to spend time at Top Golf with the current group of running backs.
“They were there because I wanted the (current players) to see what we are doing here translates to the NFL,” Foster said. “Not even as a running back, but with how Coach Kelly has us practicing such as the speed of the practice, the pace, getting there early and having a routine.
“We are still having fun, but it’s still a tool that you can use and they are learning as they have fun. They are getting the same message (from the former players), but it’s not from me.”
Kelly stated that players don’t stop learning once they’ve reached the NFL and it’s probably one of the biggest misconceptions about football.
“They teach the heck out of the guys in the NFL,” Kelly said. “That’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in the NFL. Those players want to learn, they all listen. The great ones want to listen from everybody.”
Kelly has mentioned on several occasions how the UCLA coaching staff will use videos of NFL greats – like Hall of Fame defensive back Ed Reed and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid – to help teach formations and technique among other aspects of the game.
The NFL experience within the UCLA program has also been an important asset when it comes to recruiting.
True freshman quarterback Dante Moore said Kelly’s résumé and experience helped attract the five-star prospect as a late addition to the 2023 recruiting class.
“For him to be one of the greatest head coaches doing it right now in college football and him being a coach in the NFL at the highest level and having the résumé he has … it just really drew my attention,” Moore said.
“When he was at Oregon, he would have (Mariota) in an explosive offense and I knew me being here would be great for my development.”
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson spent the past five seasons with Kelly and made his professional debut Thursday during the second half of the Cleveland Browns’ preseason game against the New York Jets.
After the game, Thompson-Robinson attributed his 48 career starts at UCLA as a reason why he wasn’t nervous playing against NFL competition. He completed eight of 11 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 36 yards. He also made a key block on a defender after handing the ball off to former Bruins running back Demteric Felton for a touchdown.
“It definitely wasn’t my first go-around in an NFL setting,” Thompson-Robinson told reporters after the game. “I was definitely a lot more comfortable than in previous years.”
Kelly has also suggested trying to implement the conference and divisional format from the NFL in response to the ongoing news of conference realignment Friday.
“Put 60 of us in the same division and do it like the NFL, where there’s NFC West, NFC North, NFC South, where it’s the same thing and then we all get together,” Kelly explained. “I think we should all be in there as one conference in all of college football and just break it up as they do in the professional ranks.”