UCLA plans to retain head football coach Chip Kelly, according to a report from Bruin Report Online’s Tracy Pierson.

According to Pierson, Kelly faced scrutiny from the UCLA administration following a Nov. 11 loss to Arizona State at home, but the win over USC at the Coliseum a week later solidified his standing and ensured that he would remain in Westwood for at least another season.

The Bruins ended a tumultuous regular season on Saturday with a 33-7 loss at home to Cal. In UCLA’s final Pac-12 conference game at the Rose Bowl, it was largely noncompetitive against its system rival. The loss marked a third in the team’s final four games and dropped the Bruins to 7-5 on the season.

Kelly signed a two-year contract extension before the 2023 season, restructured in such a way as to add money to his annual salary while removing retention bonuses, according to a report from The L.A. Times. His buyout is believed to be more than $8 million if fired before December 2023.

Reports emerged prior to the USC game that Kelly was likely to be fired by season’s end. Kelly refuted those reports after blasting USC 38-20, and he claimed after Saturday’s blowout loss to Cal he was not worried about his job security. But UCLA fans were calling for his dismissal Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Kelly was hired in November 2017 to replace Jim Mora. Despite a 46-30 record, Mora was dismissed after a loss to USC. He won nine games his first year and 10 games each of his next two years. Both of those 10-win seasons featured bowl wins.

In Kelly’s six years with the program, he won nine games in a season only once (2022) and has yet to win a bowl game. Kelly’s 34-34 record is the fourth-worst of any coach in program history who received at least multiple seasons. Kelly touted his 24-13 record over the last three seasons following the Cal defeat, but each of those seasons ended without UCLA seriously contending for a Pac-12 title.

Kelly has also reportedly lost support from the donor base, with Bruin Report Online initially suggesting NIL donations were being withheld until Kelly was no longer attached to the program.

The Bruins will move to the Big Ten beginning next season. The 2024 football schedule features games against Oregon, Iowa, and USC at home as well as LSU, Penn State, and Washington on the road.