A blue Chip recruit
LOS ANGELES_Long known for hiring football coaches who either had ties to the school or were fallback options, UCLA veered sharply away from tradition Saturday.
The school hired offensive innovator Chip Kelly, its top choice to replace Jim Mora and a coach whose arrival in Westwood signaled a dramatic shift in the athletic department's commitment to winning. Kelly signed a five-year contract worth $23.3 million, more than double the five-year, $11.235-million contract Mora signed upon his hiring six years ago.
Kelly, who turned 54 on Saturday, will be introduced at a news conference on campus Monday afternoon. His hiring only six days after Mora was fired triggered elation and near-disbelief among players and alumni of a program used to more modest results from its coaching searches.
"The world is upside down,"
