The Bruins lost their opener as two-touchdown favorites after their starting quarterback departed the game and his backup lost a fumble in the fourth quarter.
The last UCLA coach before Chip Kelly to open a season with four consecutive losses might be uniquely qualified to feel the pain of the man in the current predicament, even if Rodgers’ early-season stumbles happened 47 years ago.
“I feel sorry for him,” Rodgers, 87, said during a telephone interview this week from his home in Reston, Va., “because I don’t care what kind of coach you are, you can’t win with players who aren’t good enough.