LOS ANGELES — The last time Chip Kelly stood in front of a microphone and answered questions about his UCLA football program, it was late December, and the Bruins were one day away from playing North Carolina State in the Holiday Bowl.
Kelly, who had led UCLA to its first winning season since 2015, still did not know if he would be back for a fifth season, even after an 8-4 campaign that included a 62-33 demolition of rival USC at the Coliseum. The assumption was that the Holiday Bowl would be quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s last college game, and there was certainly a chance that star running back Zach Charbonnet would be joining him in the NFL draft.
Of course, the bowl game would be canceled due to issues with COVID-19 within the UCLA program, leading to some mild controversy. But ultimately, the Bruins were stripped of a major opportunity to put an exclamation point on a 2021 season that felt restorative to some UCLA fans but still somewhat lacking to others.
