Chip Kelly only has to field questions from Pac-12 reporters for a couple more years. Friday, he likely wished that date was a little bit closer. Pac-12 Media Day took place at The Novo theater at LA Live on Friday, and the final two teams to speak with the media are the ones that will soon no longer be part of the conference.
While Kelly – and USC’s Lincoln Riley – hoped to focus on football and the upcoming season, the attention for a big portion of the Bruins’ head coach’s 25 minutes on the stage was dedicated toward answering questions about UCLA’s impending move to the Big Ten.
Every coach who took the stage Friday had to answer questions about conference realignment, but with Kelly’s program right in the middle of the conversation there was plenty of intrigue about his thoughts on the move.
Kelly hoped to not take attention away from the upcoming season since the Bruins won’t make the move to the Big Ten until 2024, but the conversation continued to return to that future move. At one point, it led to a joking exchange with one reporter wondering how far Westwood is from Piscataway, New Jersey — the home of Rutgers University.
“It's 2,765 miles,” Kelly said with a smile.
College football coaches like to focus on the here and now, and for Kelly the move to the Big Ten is still a long time away plus he want to make too much of the change for his program.
“We’re not moving. Just so no one gets that,” Kelly said. “We’re not moving school or anything like that. We might play a game or two a year. We played at Cincinnati earlier in our career here. We played games on the road. Our players get excited about the challenges of playing against really, really good teams. If that's going to be the case two years from now, then that will be the case two years from now.
“The underclassmen we talked to on the team are excited. They're excited about the opportunity to play football. We're really focusing as we talk to them about it is that's something that's going to happen later. What's going to happen now is the '22 season. There's a lot of talented football players in this conference. This is going to be a great year for the Pac-12. We're excited about that.”
The Pac-12’s senior associate commissioner of football operations, Merton Hanks, made clear Friday that the conference will continue to support both UCLA and USC over the next two years despite the decision to leave the league. His hope is that both teams have success in that time and beyond.
“Our LA schools are Pac-12 members,” he said. “We're going to treat them accordingly and proudly and that they're successful. ... We're going to be mighty proud, quite frankly, if we have one of our LA schools in the next two years in the CFP because they will be Pac-12 representatives.”
Kelly said he had already heard those reassurances from both Hanks and commissioner George Kliavkoff previously allowing him to have little concern about the support from the Pac-12 over the next two years.
“Our sole focus and attention is making the 2022 season as memorable as it possibly can be for our players,” Kelly said. “I talked to Merton Hanks after it happened. Between Merton and George, they both assured me the Pac-12 is supportive of everything we're doing. If we're members for the next two years, they're going to do everything they can to support us as a member.
“My experience dealing with the administrators, George and Merton are as classy as they can be. It's obviously a unique situation. I've never been in it before. But I think the biggest thing is to focus on what we can control. What we can control is right now and the '22 team. That's what our focus is on.”
While Kliavkoff continues to show his support for UCLA while it is part of the conference, he certainly had an interesting take when asked whether or not there is a chance the move could possibly reverse course at any point.
“Here's how I would characterize that. I’d say UCLA is in a really difficult position,” he said. “There are a lot of constituents related to UCLA who are very, very, very unhappy with the decision. Student-athletes, the families of student-athletes. The faculty, the staff. The politicians, the fans, the alumni. There's a lot of really, really upset people with that decision.
“There's a hearing coming up about that decision. I can't give you a percentage chance. I think it's unlikely. But if they came back, we'd welcome them back.”
UCLA’s move to the Big Ten isn’t happening until Aug. 2, 2024. Until then, the conversation about it will continue and Kelly will have to continue to divert the attention back to his current team. A team that was picked to finish fourth in the conference and features multiple all-conference players.
The Bruins open the season on Sept. 3 with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against Bowling Green at the Rose Bowl.
