UCLA will officially introduce Chip Kelly as the school's football coach today, a hiring AD Dan Guerrero rushed at "UCLA-record speed, with the whirlwind courtship taking less than a week," according to Bill Plaschke of the L.A. TIMES. Guerrero is "paying Kelly with UCLA-record dollars," more than $4M a year. There has been "speculation that desperation comes from Under Armour's desire to recoup" on its record $280M sponsorship deal. Other people feel Guerrero, who was "not thrilled with airplanes flying banners calling for his job, is feeling the pressure to leave a football legacy before his impending retirement." It is "probably both things, plus a third nagging theory backed by credible sources" that UCLA is "still trying to make donors forget they have yet to fully discipline three basketball players caught shoplifting in China." Kelly’s arrival will "deflect attention from that furor while putting the UCLA football program on the national map for the first time in years." But whether UCLA can "stay on that map for all the right reasons is a scary thing" (L.A. TIMES, 11/26).
MULLING NEXT HIRE: Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen is leaving for the same position at Florida, and in Jackson, Hugh Kellenberger writes MSU AD John Cohen has his "first and greatest test" just over a year into his tenure. Kellenberger: "Can you replace the man who put Mississippi State football on the map?" Mullen is "not irreplaceable, but this is also nowhere close to a turnkey operation." Cohen has "already hired a baseball coach and that has been terrific, but that was in Cohen’s line of expertise." The "bar for this next hire is significantly higher than it was for Mullen nine years ago." Kellenberger: "Can Cohen, with one year of administrative experience under his belt, run a coaching search that has to move fast, be relatively free of leaks and, most importantly, hire the right guy?" (Jackson CLARION-LEDGER, 11/27).
REASONS WHY: In Lincoln, Steven Sipple writes Nebraska AD Bill Moos "won the news conference Saturday" when he announced the school had fired football coach Mike Riley. Moos' level of transparency "eclipses that of his predecessor, Shawn Eichorst, to a startling degree." The Nebraska brand is "tarnished," but Moos "is right: The brand's enduring strength is such that it can regenerate quickly." Moos "offered just the right amount of details regarding why and how he fired Riley and his staff." Sipple: "There was no B.S. But he also showed a degree of sensitivity to the fired coaches" (LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR, 11/26).
