Kelly, Riley review bittersweet Pac-12 send-off

• Kyle Bonagura, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterJul 21, 2023, 05:02 PM ET Close Covers the Pac-12.
  • Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
  • Attended Washington State University.LAS VEGAS– UCLA

‘s last season in the Pac-12 will be a bittersweet one for coach Chip Kelly.

“I’m so caring towards the conference and have a lot of buddies here,” Kelly informed ESPN at Pac-12 media day. “The Pac-12 is an unique location, however it was among those deals … I learnt [UCLA was leaving] two hours prior to it was going to take place.”

Between his time at Oregon and UCLA, Kelly has actually invested 11 years training in the conference and acknowledged conference adjustment is just part of the sport.

“You understand it and I think even the league understands it,” Kelly stated. “And I’ll credit [commissioner] George [Kliavkoff] and [associate commissioner] Merton Hanks have been great to me and to our group. They’re elegant as heck, however it’s simply the world we live in college football. It’s driven by money. Whatever the cash is, people are incentivizing it enough to make it where you would never think you would do it, but then you learn [the media rights circulation is] probably twice what you get in the other league and you’re like, ‘OK.'”

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1 Related USC coach Lincoln Riley revealed a comparable sentiment, despite having spent just one year in the conference.

“When I made the decision to come coach at USC, it was to come coach [in the Pac-12],” he said. “In a short time, had the ability to make and produce terrific relationships within this conference, whether it’s the other coaches, the other schools, the administrators here, getting to dip into the various venues.”

Both schools will begin play in the Big Ten next season, after announcing they would leave last summer.

“Exists excitement to go into the Big Ten? Absolutely there is, right?” Riley said. “This is not a battle between good and evil, right? It’s not that there’s one right response. Pac-12 is a remarkable conference. I think it’s established for an incredible year. Clearly, we’re excited to be a part of it this year. Ideally our in 2015 goes truly, really well.”

USC’s last conference title was available in 2017 and UCLA’s remained in 1998.

“It suggests a lot to be the in 2015 in the Pac-12,” UCLA offensive lineman Duke Clemens told ESPN. “It would be huge to win the conference. Not simply for our team I think, but for the program and a good way to send us off into the Big Ten.”

Both schools have actually been members of the conference going back to the 1920s, when it was referred to as the Pacific Coast Conference, and have actually been tentpole members since.