“It’s been positive so far,” Kelly said. “The conversations that we’ve had with the kids that are in high school right now, because those are the guys it impacts, we’ve noticed that as an uptick as a coaching staff and have talked about that.”

Kelly mentioned that the Bruins could only wait to see how things play out over the next two years but his dealings with Pac-12 administrators (George Kliavkoff and Merton Hanks) have been “as classy as they can be.”

“It’s obviously a unique situation,” Kelly said. “I’ve never been in it before. But I think the biggest thing is to focus on what we can control.

“What we can control is right now and the ’22 team. That’s what our focus is on.”

Kelly will field one of the oldest rosters of his UCLA tenure this season, after having one of the country’s youngest rosters in 2019.

“We have 21 players on this current roster that have graduated already. Twenty of them are in grad school,” Kelly said. “Because of COVID, I think we’re a very old team. That experience I think will really help. We’ve had great leadership from that group of guys.”

While he has been able to fill immediate needs by adding experienced players through the transfer portal, the remaining members of his first recruiting class are currently the backbone of the program.

Fifth-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and senior running back Zach Charbonnet, a first-team all-conference selection last season, are the most high-profile returning players, but neither represented the program at media day.

Offensive lineman Jon Gaines II and defensive back Stephan Blaylock represented the Bruins alongside Kelly. Both were members of that first recruiting class, along with Thompson-Robinson in 2018.

The defense also features fifth-year safety Kenny Churchwell III and sixth-year defensive back Mo Osling III.

“Churchwell played really, really well for us in the spring at safety,” Kelly said. “(Blaylock) is a big, solid, downhill, physical player.”

Sophomore defensive back Devin Kirkwood has continued to impress throughout the spring and helps the secondary retain a noticeable sense of energy that the departed Qwuantrezz Knight (San Francisco 49ers) and Quentin Lake (Rams) brought last season.

“The energy is still there because we have a lot of energetic young cats,” Blaylock said. “I’ve never seen (Kirkwood) down. Every time you see him step on the field, you will see him talking and he is going to make plays.”

The secondary depth could be crucial with UCLA facing three of the Pac-12’s top quarterbacks this season: USC’s Caleb Williams, Utah’s Cameron Rising and Stanford’s Tanner McKee.

Coaching changes

Kelly replaced six coaches and used the opportunity to add a notable alumnus in one of those positions.

“We’re very conscious of who we bring on staff, the same way as the players we bring in,” Kelly said. “To add a UCLA legend like Ken Norton Jr., get a chance to get Ken to come back home, I think everybody in Los Angeles knows Ken, and to add him to the staff was awesome.”

The former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator replaced inside linebackers coach Don Pellum, who spent most of the past three decades as a coach within the Pac-10/Pac-12.

Former Chicago Bears linebackers coach Bill McGovern was hired to replace Jerry Azzinaro, who resigned as defensive coordinator during the offseason.

Kelly also lost Justin Frye, the team’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, to Ohio State and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Derek Sage to Nevada.

The Bruins haven’t labeled anyone for either of those two coordinator roles but did fill those position roles. Former Duke coach Jeff Faris is the tight ends coach and offensive analyst Tim Drevno was promoted to offensive line coach.