Ferd Lewis: UCLA coach Kelly laughs through the pain

In these socially distant, pandemic-driven times, UCLA football coaches routinely check on their players not only to see if they are staying in shape and studying their playbooks but also to assess their mental wellness.

Still, when inside linebackers coach Don Pellum called head coach Chip Kelly and told him, “You’re on my list, my wellness check(list),” Kelly said, “I just started laughing.”

Kelly said he told Pellum, “‘I’m good, Doc,’ and he’s like, ‘No, we need to talk.’ ”

Pellum need not have worried about his boss. Despite the daily uncertainty that surrounds this season — including whether the Bruins’ season will start on time or they play Hawaii Sept. 2 at Aloha Stadium — and the pressure to turn around the program’s lagging fortunes, Kelly is quick to laugh and to share one.

On a Pac -12 coaches media conference call Wednesday, Kelly got up from his computer screen in mid-conversation and curiously left the room. When Kelly returned, he was waving Arizona State coach Herm Edwards’ book, “You Play to Win the Game,” citing it as his go-to guide. “Whenever I get asked a tough question, I look in here.”

Later in discussing the current virus situation, Kelly asked if Edwards, 66, had been around for the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.

The 2020 season figured to be challenging for Kelly even before the pandemic hit. He has gone just 7-17 in two seasons at UCLA since returning to college coaching from a four-year stint in the NFL. Then, in the offseason, the Bruins roster underwent heavy turnover with 15 players entering the NCAA’s transfer portal.

More recently, Los Angeles government officials and California’s higher education systems have taken some of the nation’s toughest stands on re-opening and athletics. Tuesday, the 23-school California State University system said its campuses would go primarily with online-based classes in the fall. Hours later, the California Collegiate Athletic Association, where the state’s Division II public schools compete, said it was closing down athletics for the fall.

Next to weigh in will be the 10-campus UC system, which includes UCLA.

Kelly said, “Nothing that was said in the last 24-48 hours directly impacts us playing games in September, but you never know, so we will just continue to monitor.”

Kelly said, “I don’t think anybody knows. You just have to go and be very agile on how you are handling this whole situation and adjust to whatever happens.

I think on a daily basis things change and we have to be able to adjust.”

In step with fellow Pac-12 coaches, who have said their teams will need at least six weeks to prepare for the season when — and if — the green light comes, Kelly said, “If our strength and conditioning coaches could get their hands on (the players) for a couple of weeks before we got them, I think you could do it in four weeks.”

Kelly said, “I think the virus will tell us when we’re going to be able to come back and when it’s under control and when they have the proper testing and what-not in place. And until that time, we’re just going to keep planning like we have a season coming up. No one has told us that we’re not playing. No one has told us that we are definitely playing.”

And that’s one area where Edwards’ book does not provide guidance.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.