LOS ANGELES — Before a reporter from Quebec was even able to finish firing off his question, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly jumped in to say, “We’re expanding, but we’re not going to Quebec.” The room laughed. Kelly’s quick wit was alive and well Friday inside the Novo Theater. He held court at Pac-12 Media Day, expressing confidence in his team, talking about expansion, and downplaying the idea that UCLA moving to the Big Ten—and the increased travel burden that will accompany that move—will have any undue effects on his football team.

“We’re not moving school or anything like that,” he quipped. “We might play a game or two a year. We played at Cincinnati earlier in our career here. We played games on the road. Our players get excited about the challenges of playing against really, really good teams. If that’s going to be the case two years from now, then that will be the case two years from now. The younger classmen we talked to on the team are excited. They’re excited about the opportunity to play football.”

The Big Ten’s schedule has become a concern since UCLA and USC announced their intention to join the league in 2024.

Specifically for Olympic sports, but for football as well, the Bruins and Trojans will soon belong to a conference that stretches from L.A. to New Jersey. When UCLA flies to a road game in November, it could cross three time zones to get there.

Reports have suggested some in the Bruins’ athletic department aren’t thrilled about that. Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said at his league’s media event earlier this week it will be something the league looks at closely over the next two years.

Kelly, a former NFL head coach, doesn’t seem to concerned.

“I can’t speak for Olympic sports, but in football it’s a one-day trip,” he said. “I don’t think the impact that it has really truly affects anything from a human body experience.”

He wasn’t done.

“When I was in the National Football League, we did a sports study science of games played on East Coast and West Coast. It happens all the time in the National Football League. You’re only there for probably 18 hours total,” he said. “You fly in the night before, go to sleep, get up in the morning, touch your toes, play a game, get on a plane and go back.

“Again, when you look at it, you only play four away games in the year. In the course of 12, that’s 25% of your games. Where are they? One of the away games could be USC. I know we’re not getting on a plane to go to SC. So that’s going to be a short bus ride. So I hope that doesn’t take too much out of our guys. You can go to Lincoln, Nebraska, it’s 1,149 miles from our campus. Seattle is 1,135 miles from our campus. Sometimes we go on farther trips in our conference now than we would if we do that.”

What about Piscataway, New Jersey?

“It’s 2,765 miles,” Kelly said with a grin. “Four-and-a-half-hour flight.”

Not too bad.

“I don’t think it will affect our sport, to really be honest with you,” Kelly said. “I don’t think it’s that big a deal.”

Now, Quebec is a different story…