There was little doubt that Chip Kelly would land on his feet after a one-season tenure as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
The only question was whether Kelly would pursue a job in the NFL, likely as an offensive coordinator, or return to the college level, where he would seemingly have his pick of open head coaching positions from programs around the country.
On Saturday, the uncertainty surrounding Kelly’s future employment came to an end, as the UCLA Bruins inked Kelly to a five-year, $23.9 million contract to take over an underachieving team that will soon lose its highly-touted quarterback to the NFL Draft.
Kelly’s choice of UCLA doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering he’s already attained national success with a west coast school (Oregon), and developed recruiting ties in the talent-rich Southern California region. In fact, it’s a job that fits him much better than a vacancy like Florida or Tennessee would have, because he won’t have to compete against Nick Saban on an annual basis. But despite the obvious attraction of coaching in Los Angeles for a program with built-in recruiting advantages, it was mildly surprising that UCLA was able to land a coach who will command more than $4 million annually.
Traditionally, UCLA doesn’t empty its pockets for football coaches, and furthermore, the Bruins are already paying Kelly’s predecessor, Jim Mora, Jr., a $12 million buyout. Under normal circumstances, UCLA may not have had the funds available to lure a coach as costly as Kelly to campus in Westwood. But thanks to Kelly’s NFL background, the Bruins weren’t dealing with normal circumstances.
As part of the Bruins’ announcement of Kelly’s hire, UCLA made note that the $23.3 million contract Kelly signed included a $9 million reciprocal buyout. That buyout means that Kelly’s old employer, the San Francisco 49ers, are still on the hook for some of the cash that the franchise owes him. Because Kelly agreed to a four-year, $24 million deal prior to the 2016 season with San Francisco, the 49ers will continue paying Kelly for the rest of the 2017 season, and during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. However, the reciprocal buyout UCLA announced means the 49ers are no longer on the hook for the full amount they owe Kelly over the next two seasons ($12 million), and instead will receive a bit of a financial break.
According to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, the 49ers will pay $4.5 million of Kelly’s salary over the next two seasons, meaning that San Francisco does get a bit of financial relief. The 49ers also saved some money on the front end of the deal, due to Kelly’s previous contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, so San Francisco won’t end up paying nearly as much as it was initially on the hook for. However, if the 49ers did end up paying Kelly the full amount of the contract they initially agreed to, it probably would have meant Kelly met and or exceeded expectations and lasted well beyond a lone season with the franchise.
Ultimately, because UCLA can lean on the 49ers to pay a significant portion of Kelly’s salary over the next two seasons, the Bruins were able to land a coach they most likely wouldn’t have been able to hire. Perhaps a UCLA donor would have ponied up for Kelly regardless of the 49ers’ contractual commitment, or perhaps the Bruins would have bucked their historical trend and paid top dollar for another highly sought after coaching target, but ultimately, the financial help Jed York was able to provide wound up making Kelly a no-brainer hire.
It’s a sweet deal for UCLA, which was able to sneak in front of potential suitors like Nebraska, Florida, Tennessee and perhaps Arkansas and Texas A&M to snag Kelly before the end of November. And it’s a nice break for a 49ers’ franchise that is still paying Jim Tomsula as well. In the end, San Francisco won’t save that much money, but if Kelly succeeds in Westwood, folks will point to the reciprocal buyout as one of the reasons why UCLA was able to hire an A-list coach.