UCLA Football Coach Chip Kelly Betting Favorite to Take Over at Oregon

The first half of Canzano's what if came true after Manny Diaz was fired and subsequently replaced at Miami, and now it's just a matter of who ends up stepping in to take Cristobal's place.

Kelly is under contract with UCLA for one more year, but his $9 million buyout will drop to nothing after Jan. 15. Kelly has gone 18-25 in his four seasons with the Bruins, and the upcoming Holiday Bowl marks the first postseason game he is set to coach with the program.

Before taking four years to coach in the NFL, Kelly came up through the ranks at Oregon and went 46-7 as their head coach from 2009 to 2012 while leading the Ducks to a national championship game appearance, a Rose Bowl and a Fiesta Bowl. Kelly was previously the offensive coordinator in Eugene and spent six seasons total up at Oregon.

To return to Oregon, the Ducks would likely have to pay some portion of Kelly's buyout at UCLA in order to lock him down before the early signing period for class of 2022 recruits opens Dec. 17. That would also leave the Bruins without a coach during the most high-stakes period of the annual recruiting cycle, condensing the timeline even further.

This all remains a hypothetical at the moment, but one that certainly has some steam. Many local fans and columnists alike have pegged Kelly as the No. 1 option to replace Cristobal, and it would send even more shockwaves through a Pac-12 that has already been flipped on its head.

At least one-third of the conference will open next season with a new coach, with USC's Lincoln Riley, Washington's Kalen DeBoer and Washington State's Jake Dickert joining whoever steps in at Oregon.

Kelly was asked about the Washington opening in November, to which he said he had not been contacted and was happy at UCLA. However, Kelly ended his final postgame press conference of the regular season without giving a straight answer to whether or not he wanted an extension.

"I don’t need to discuss my contract with you, so I’m good," Kelly said in response to the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch. "I have an agent and he takes care of things and that’s the way it works, so. What’s your contract?"

As it turns out, Kelly turning the temperature down on his hot seat didn't save the Bruins from wondering about their future at the head coaching position.