'This Is An Amazing Game And We Keep Trying To Screw It Up': Chip Kelly Sounds Off On How The Pac-12 Fell Apart

Call it whatever you want, but failing to keep the Pac-12 alive is a sad moment in college football that shouldn't have happened according to UCLA head coach Chip Kelly. Entering their final game as members of the conference, how it all went down has weighed heavy on the mind of the Bruins coach.

The shock and awe factor has worn down over the last few weeks, with the conference crowning Washington its last champion. Discussions about the future have continued, with teams preparing for a future in different conferences.

UCLA will play Boise State at 7:30pm ET on ABC is its last game as a member of the Pac-12.

While we wonder what type of games we'll see next season, there are folks dreading the day it all becomes official in the summer of 2024. How we got to this point has been talked about for years, but it still doesn't make the reality any easier.

UCLA Coach Chip Kelly Calls The Whole Situation 'Sad'

For Chip Kelly, he looks at the dissolving Pac-12 as a failure on the part of coaches and administrators, who should be looking out for the student-athletes.

“It’s sad. A bunch of people couldn’t figure out how to keep this conference together and that’s sad," Chip Kelly noted. "This conference has been together since 1915. We’re supposed to be the smart ones. I heard Kirk Ferentz talk in front of congress when they were talking about realignment and he said ‘We have to be the dumbest people in the world’. This is an amazing game and we keep trying to screw it up. 

“I’m talking about the administrators, and coaches, it’s on us. The fact there is not going to be a Pac-12 next year. The fact that Washington State is not going to be in a conference next year, the fact that Oregon State is not going to be in a conference next year, we failed. Our job is to create opportunities for student-athletes to be successful, we didn’t do it."

He's not wrong, but there's only so much the head coach can do. These decisions are made way above his title, and while he's right, it's still difficult to comprehend to this day.

Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins walks on the field against the Oregon State Beavers during the first half at Reser Stadium on October 14 in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Kelly Wants A Commissioner To Handle Football Problem

When it comes to how college football should be played over the next decade, Chip Kelly has a solution. One of the bigger problems right now for a lot of schools is how they're being separated from the gigantic pack of power-conferences.

If you ask Chip Kelly, which they did, it comes down to West Coast or East Coast type of divisions in college football.

“I think we need to have a conference commissioner. I think football should be separate from the other sports," Chip Kelly pointed out. "Just the fact our school is leaving for the Big Ten in football, our softball team should be playing Arizona in softball. Our basketball team should be playing Arizona in basketball. They say ‘How do you do that?’, well Notre Dame is independent in football and they’re in a conference. I think we should all be independent in football.

“You can have a 64-team conference that’s in the Power-5, and you can have a 64-team conference in the group of five. We play each other. You can have the West Coast teams, and every year we play seven games against West Coast teams, then we play the East. You can play a seven game schedule, and play four against another division opponent, so we can still keep those rivalries going."

Whether or not something like this would work is up for debate. But in terms of what happened to the Pac-12, there's enough blame to go around according to Chip Kelly.

"I think we all own part of what happened, and it shouldn’t have happened. The fact that Oregon State and Washington State aren’t gonna play in conferences, that’s not right. And the fact there isn’t going to be a Pac-12, that’s not right."