UCLA's Chip Kelly on Recruiting: Whoever Has Most Money Is Getting the Most Players

UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly is more concerned with name, image and likeness rules than he is with Oregon and Washington coming to the Big Ten, at least when it comes to recruiting.

Kelly told reporters the Ducks and Huskies joining USC and UCLA in the Big Ten starting with the 2024 season won't take away his team's recruiting advantages because something else—in his eyes—determines where prospects choose.

"You want to know what's going on in recruiting right now? It's all NIL," he said. "So whoever has the most money is getting the most players."

USC and UCLA were already headed to the Big Ten ahead of the latest round of conference realignment that saw Oregon and Washington also join the conference. That was far from it, as Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are heading to the Big 12, essentially ending the Pac-12 as fans know it.

Blake Baumgartner of ESPN noted "rumblings about USC's and UCLA's desires to be the only West Coast teams in the Big Ten have been out there," and the assumption is the Bruins and Trojans were concerned that Oregon and Washington jumping aboard as well would prevent them from being able to pitch being the only West Coast Big Ten teams to recruits.

Now four schools can advertise the ability to play against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and others under the bright spotlight that the Big Ten offers.

As for Kelly's NIL comments, he is far from the only coach to raise concerns.

In fact, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and coaches from his league, including Alabama's Nick Saban, went to the nation's capital in Washington, D.C., to urge lawmakers to implement national rules and standards regarding the issue.

As it currently stands, there are a number of different laws across different states, which makes any type of regulation all the more difficult.

Kelly suggested that all it takes is money to recruit in today's college football, which is notable because the Bruins are a middling 54th in the 247Sports' composite 2024 recruiting rankings.

If they don't make some improvements on the trail, it may be more difficult to compete in the Big Ten in the coming years.