1. The B1G Story

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say Ohio State decided to make Chip Kelly the highest paid assistant coach in college football.

That position currently belongs to new LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, the former Missouri DC who agreed to a deal that will pay him $2.4 million annually.

Kelly, before announcing that he was resigning as head coach at UCLA, was set to make $6.1 million in 2024.

That near $4 million pay cut — if Ohio State does match the Baker contract — is stunning. It also underscores what DeShaun Foster is walking into at UCLA, as the program begins its first season in the Big Ten in 2024.

We’ve see Group of 5 head coaches leave for coordinator jobs at the Power 4 level. We’ve seen FCS coaches leave head coaching jobs for assistant coach positions at the FBS level.

We’ve never seen a sitting head coach at a major university walk away for a coordinator job at another school, no matter the level. It just doesn’t happen.

So when UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond introduced Foster to the team on Monday, he said, “We want somebody that wants to be a Bruin.”

He may as well have said we want someone who can raise NIL money.

Kelly tried in January to get a coordinator job in the NFL, before finally agreeing to the position at Ohio State once Bill O’Brien — hired last month as OC/QBs coach and play-caller — left to take the head coaching job at Boston College.

He wanted out, and he’s finding another job — one way or the other.

The overriding question: Why walk away from $6.1 million — and is it fixable at UCLA?

2. Navigating NIL

It’s no secret on the recruiting trail — both high school and transfer portal — that UCLA’s NIL doesn’t operate in the same area code as city rival USC or most other major West Coast schools.

It’s also no secret that Kelly isn’t exactly the most engaging recruiter, preferring to focus on program operation before coming in late as the recruiting closer. His ongoing job security questions exacerbated the problems.

UCLA landed the No. 88-ranked high school recruiting class in 2024, according to the 247Sports composite ranking — behind Troy, South Alabama, UTEP, Miami (OH) and, do I need to go on? In the past 5 years, UCLA’s high school recruiting rankings are 88th, 37th, 61st, 32nd, 33rd in the nation.

First up for Foster, a beloved former player who has been an assistant at UCLA for the past 9 seasons: a detailed plan of action with the Men of Westwood, UCLA’s NIL collective.

Foster, like all FBS coaches, is part fundraiser for the NIL and part head coach. If the goal is improving the roster, there are only 2 ways (high school and portal recruiting) — and both need a healthy, thriving collective.

Kelly never felt like an invested party at UCLA, but merely an offensive guru who hoped to get the right quarterback and strike it big. He had elite QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson for his first 5 seasons and never won more than 9 games.

At the end of last season, 5-star QB Dante Moore entered the transfer portal and signed with Oregon. Kelly likely saved his job with a win over rival USC and a bowl win over Boise State — sandwiched between a shocking 26-point home loss to rival Cal.

If Kelly didn’t leave for Ohio State, he was clearly on a short leash.

3. Winning in the here and now

Jarmond said UCLA “cast a wide net” when searching for a replacement, and Foster was the elite of the group. Foster is, as much as anything, a known commodity for a roster in potential turmoil.

Under NCAA rules, players have 30 days to leave UCLA and enter the transfer portal. The Bruins have signed 11 from the portal, including Notre Dame WR Rico Flores.

All of those players, and the current players on the roster and the 2024 high school recruiting class, have 30 days to enter the portal. A roster that already looks more like Rutgers than Penn State, can’t be picked over during the 30-day window.

It’s now up to Foster to do what former alums couldn’t do: consistently win in Westwood — and get everyone on the same page. Kelly was 35-34 in 6 seasons. Karl Dorrell was 35-27 in 5 seasons, and Rick Neuheisel was 21-28 in 4 seasons.

Dorrell and Neuheisel were heralded as coaches who could pull everyone together, and tighten the knot. Just like Foster.

It begins and ends for Foster in the NIL world. Work big-money boosters, and find a way to increase the value of the collective.

Foster can be a players’ coach, and the team meeting room may have exploded when they learned of his hire. But players want to earn, period.

If Foster can’t expand the value of the collective, he’ll end up just like Dorrell and Neuheisel — and every other coach at UCLA since the last time the program was relevant in the 1990s.

And just like Kelly — who by the end of his tenure, wanted out so badly, he was willing to take a $4 million pay cut.

4. The connection

Ryan Day played quarterback for Kelly in the 1990s at FCS New Hampshire, and nearly got an FBS win in 1999, too — before falling in double overtime at USF.

Day worked with Kelly for the Eagles and 49ers in the NFL, and when then-Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was looking for a quarterbacks coach (and future OC), he leaned on Kelly for an answer. He got Day, who was named co-OC and eventually head coach when Meyer retired after the 2018 season.

After 3 straight losses to Michigan and questions lingering about his ability to win big games, Day did what most coaches do in times of trouble: He hired a known commodity.

Kelly was an offensive savant early in his career as OC and eventually head coach at Oregon. His skills led to 2 NFL jobs, though neither eventually fit.

In the past 5 seasons, the UCLA offense (Kelly was OC and play-caller and QBs coach) finished 9th in the Pac-12 in scoring (26.5 ppg.), 3rd (39.2), 1st (36.5), 2nd (35.4) and 8th (26.7).

Now he must get Kansas State transfer Will Howard, or 5-star signees Air Norland or Julian Sayin ready to lead the offense, and help Ohio State clear the Michigan obstacle and win a national title for the first time since 2014.

5. The Weekly 5

The 5 most anticipated games of the 2024 Big Ten season.

1. Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 30.

2. Ohio State at Oregon, Oct. 12.

3. Oregon at Michigan, Nov. 2.

4. Washington at Penn State, Nov. 9.

5. Ohio State at Penn State, Nov. 2.

6. Your tape is your resume

An NFL scout analyzes a draft-eligible Big Ten player. This week: Penn State TE Theo Johnson.

“An athletic freak. He’s long and has a wide catch radius. I’m not sure they ever really figured out how to use him, especially with a deep tight end room with (Brenton) Strange and (Tyler) Warren. He’s a project, no question. But he has some explosion, and he can run. He’s a late round guy, someone you believe you can develop. But there’s potential there, no question. He struggles at the point of attack, but if you split him out, he could be a difficult cover.”

7. Powered Up

This week’s Power Poll, and 1 big thing: best coaching staff addition.

1. Oregon: ILB coach Brian Michalowski. Former Georgia assistant with Dan Lanning, elevated from defensive analyst.

2. Ohio State: OC Chip Kelly. Day needed to do something with a restless fan base unnerved by a talented team losing to Michigan — again. The offense will be similar, and will allow Day to be more big picture with the program.

3. Penn State: OC Andy Kotelnicki. The best assistant coach hire of the offseason in the Big Ten — if Kotelnicki gets complete autonomy (he has been told he will). The PSU offense will drastically change for the better.

4. Michigan: DC Wink Martindale. New coach Sherrone Moore added an NFL DC with a successful track record of elite defenses. What more could Michigan want?

5. Iowa: OC Tim Lester. Finally, the specter of Brian Ferentz is gone. But Lester will only open up the offense as much as coach Kirk Ferentz allows.

6. Washington: DC Steve Belichick. Name sound familiar? Bill Belichick’s son was a smart hire by new coach Jedd Fisch, even if he only stays for a season.

7. USC: LBs Matt Entz. How often do you add a 2-time national championship coach as a position coach? Entz, along with new DC D’Anton Lynn, will a aura of accountability to a defense that has struggled for 2 seasons.

8. Wisconsin: Badgers coach Luke Fickell still has 1 position open on staff: defensive line coach. Greg Scruggs left for Michigan.

9. Illinois: DBs David Gibbs. Former UCF co-DC gives the Illini a longtime former DC coaching a critical area on the defense — one that struggled in 2023 (11th in the Big Ten in yards allowed) and gave up 22 TD passes.

10. Minnesota: DC Corey Hetherman. After losing Joe Rossi to Michigan State, P.J. Fleck added a rising star in Hetherman, a linebackers coach for the Scarlet Knights.

11. Nebraska: QBs Glenn Thomas. Huskers needed experienced guidance for freshman QB Dylan Raiola, and got a longtime college and NFL QBs coach who worked with Rhule at Baylor.

12. Northwestern: DC Tim McGarigle. David Braun elevated McGarigle — who was in demand from other Big Ten schools — from linebackers coach.

13. UCLA: DC Ikaika Malloe. Kelly elevated Malloe from DL coach, and said he was on the same track as Lynn — whose defensive lines (and linebackers) helped develop the UCLA defense from a liability to a strength.

14. Maryland: DC Aazaar Abdul-Rahim. An elite recruiter and a coach who has grown into a solid DC. The Boston College defense, despite its personnel limitations, played stretches of good defense in 2023.

15. Rutgers: DL Colin Ferrell. A New Jersey native, Rutgers needed an elite recruiter who knows the area to compete with new Syracuse coach Fran Brown, who has zeroed in on New Jersey’s top high school talent.

16. Michigan State: DC Joe Rossi. New coach Jonathan Smith made his intentions clear as soon as he got to East Lansing, convincing the most undervalued defensive coordinator in the Big Ten to leave Minnesota and join the rebuild.

17. Indiana: OC Mike Shanahan. Follow Curt Cignetti from James Madison, after developing an elite offense with the Dukes over the past 3 seasons (No.23 in the nation, 34.1 ppg., in 2023).

18. Purdue: ST Chris Petrilli. Coach Ryan Walters wanted to find a full-time spot for Petrilli, a former North Texas linebackers coach, before he lost him to another program.

8. Ask and you shall receive

Matt: Is there a legit Playoff sleeper in the Big Ten (in 2024)? — Kurt Philips, Chicago.

Kurt:

There’s no just a Playoff sleeper, it’s almost a Playoff lock. And — hold onto your hat — it’s Iowa.

It begins with the hire of Tim Lester as offensive coordinator. A smart, potentially season-defining hire that should’ve been done after the 2022 season. If Cade McNamara can stay healthy behind an offensive line that returns 5 starters (and adds Alabama transfer Kadyn Proctor), he will thrive under Lester.

Leshon Williams is a legit runner who has struggled with an inefficient pass offense. Once Lester figures out the passing game, Williams will be a 1,000-yard back.

The defense returns the best DC in college football (Phil Parker) and 8 starters from a unit that was the backbone of a 10-win season.

Then there’s the schedule — and the key to Iowa’s run to the Playoff. It’s almost as though the Big Ten set up the Hawkeyes for a special season.

The heavy lift in 12 games is an Oct. 5 at Ohio State, but the remainder of the schedule is fortunately navigable. Just how fortunate?

The most difficult game outside of Ohio State is rival Iowa State. Don’t buy it? Check out this cake schedule:

Home games: FCS Illinois State, Iowa State, Troy, Washington, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Nebraska.

Road games: Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland.

Hello, Playoff.

9. Numbers

7.5. Welcome to the Big Ten, USC. FanDuel released its win totals for 2024, and USC — with coach Lincoln Riley staring at a critical season — has a win total line of 7.5.

Nothing about that is good for USC or Riley, or the Big Ten’s addition of the Pac-12’s marquee program. The Big Ten needs USC to bounce back from an ugly 8-win season in 2023 with 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. Riley needs it, too.

He’s all-in with quarterback Miller Moss, who waited his time behind Williams and got his chance in the Holiday Bowl — then threw for 372 yards and 6 TDs against one of the best defenses in college football.

Williams had 9 TD passes in the last 7 games of the season — 5 of which were losses.

10. Quote to note

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster: “The foundation of this team will be built on discipline, respect and enthusiasm.”