Rival Views: Should Chip Kelly take UCLA or Florida job?

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate which job would be a better fit for Chip Kelly, Florida or UCLA.

WHO BENEFITS MOST FROM COACH FIRINGS AT ... UCLA | Florida

The better job is Florida, we all know that based on recent history. But Chip Kelly would be better served taking the UCLA job. Returning to the Pac-12 seems like a natural fit for the former Oregon coach who recruited well in California while coaching the Ducks. It’s an offensive league, he’s had proven success in it, the recruiting transition would be easier and he would be given more time and control there.

At Florida, Kelly would need to win an SEC title in three years, maybe four. His sped-up, wide-open offense would be tougher to win with against SEC defenses and the recruiting pool is quite full in Florida. At UCLA, he would essentially be battling USC for top California recruits.

The path to winning and a longer stay, two things I assume he wants, is clearer in L.A. by far and he would bring excitement to a school that needs it on the football side.

Florida makes the most sense for Chip Kelly, even though there are some budding issues that could be cause for concern. Kelly is a big-time coach with big-time experience and running Florida seems to fit better than UCLA, which continues to be an also-ran in the Pac-12 South and plays second fiddle to USC in its own hometown.

Kelly could recruit skill players to Florida like no one else because his offense would be so friendly to those types of quarterbacks, running backs and receivers. He would breathe fresh life into an offense that has been stuck in the mud since the days of Urban Meyer, and before that, Steve Spurrier. If he hires competent defensive coaches, top prospects on that side of the ball would still want to come to Gainesville. It really could be the best of both worlds with Kelly running a dynamic spread offense and a defense that continues to play lights out.

Here are the concerns: Kelly is a control freak that will want everything run his way. Can Spurrier not involve himself at all? Can former athletics director Jeremy Foley stay out of the way, too? If you want Kelly, you have to accept some of his - let's say - nuances when it comes to controlling things and running the program.

UCLA would probably give him complete control and he might be able to sway some elite recruits to Westwood on his name alone. But is coaching the Bruins big enough for Kelly? Is returning to the Pac-12 all that important to him? My guess is no.