How Brian Kelly Firing Impacts UCLA's Coaching Vacancy

Prior to Kelly's firing, The Athletic's Chris Vannini revisited the best openings in college football, and and updated view of his rankings including LSU may look like this:

1. LSU
2. Penn State
3. Florida
4. Arkansas
5. UCLA
6. Oklahoma State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Stanford
9. Oregon State
10. Colorado State
11. UAB
12. Kent State

The Athletic's estimated valuation of UCLA is set at $343 million, which ties it for 43rd among Power 4 programs. Vannini gave the Bruins' vacancy a B grade. Here's what he had to say:

• "The idea of UCLA has long seemed better than the reality of UCLA. The Bruins haven’t won a conference championship since 1998 and haven’t posted a 10-win season in more than a decade. Fan apathy is showing up in the attendance figures at the Rose Bowl, and the athletic department’s financial problems have been piling up — the Bruins have been operating at a cumulative deficit of over $200 million over the last five years.

• "But it’s a Big Ten job in Southern California. That doesn’t mean all Big Ten jobs are better than all ACC or Big 12 jobs. But it means the Bruins’ ceiling and the floor should be higher, and the path to success is easy to envision.

• "The school needs a coach capable of setting up a better recruiting operation in California and exciting the fans and donors to spend for success. The expectation should be annual bowl games with periodic 10-win seasons."