Chip Kelly and UCLA football coaches will be well compensated - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

UCLA football coach Chip Kelly and his assistants will be well compensated this season

UCLA coach Chip Kelly walks along the sideline during a game against California.
UCLA coach Chip Kelly and his coaches are going to make a school-record $9,854,700 this season, according to records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
(Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)
Share via

You want to win big at UCLA?

It’s going to cost you.

You want a mediocre program?

It’s still going to cost you.

Win or lose this season, the Bruins’ football coaches are going to make a school-record $9,854,700, according to records obtained by the Los Angeles Times. That includes coach Chip Kelly’s $5.6 million salary that came with a $1-million retention bonus he pocketed earlier this year for still being on the job at a time when he had gone 10-21 over his first three seasons.

Offensive and defensive coordinators Justin Frye and Jerry Azzinaro will make $700,000 apiece and Brian Norwood, the team’s defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator, will take home $500,000.

Advertisement

After missing eight practices, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has returned to camp. He wouldn’t say why he was out.

Aug. 16, 2021

Inside linebackers coach Don Pellum and quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson will each make $400,000. Defensive line coach Johnny Nansen will make $368,000 after securing a $145,000 retention bonus and a $23,000 raise.

Tight ends and special teams coach Derek Sage will make $350,000. Running backs coach DeShaun Foster, who presides over arguably the most successful position group since Kelly’s arrival, will make $313,700 after getting a $23,300 raise earlier this year.

Outside linebackers coach Jason Kaufusi will make $273,300 and former UCLA quarterback Jerry Neuheisel will make $250,000 in his first season as the wide receivers coach after having been promoted from his role as a graduate assistant.

Advertisement

Here’s a closer look at each of UCLA’s football matchups in the 2021 college football season, which starts Aug. 28 when the Bruins host Hawaii.

Aug. 22, 2021

Each assistant coach can also make up to $100,000 in bonuses. An appearance in the Pac-12 championship game is worth $15,000; an appearance in any bowl game is worth $10,000; an appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl game is worth $20,000; an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinal is worth $10,000; an appearance in the College Football Playoff championship is worth $20,000; and a national championship is worth $25,000.

Kelly’s bonuses could amount to as much as $1.085 million annually based on team performance and academic achievement, with the coach pocketing $10,000 starting with the team’s sixth win in the regular season.

The number that UCLA fans want to avoid coming into play is Kelly’s $9-million buyout, which expires on Jan. 15, 2022.

Advertisement