Wilton Speight announces transfer to UCLA

Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight announced back in November his intentions to transfer from the program. Then a report came out in January that Speight could stay if Patterson was ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

Now, the news is official. Speight is heading to the west coast and will play for Chip Kelly at UCLA, he announced on his Instagram Thursday night.

This will be Speight’s fifth and final season of college football, so he will be immediately eligible to play.

UCLA needed to fill a void at quarterback after Josh Rosen announced he was heading to the NFL. Kelly gets a solid veteran quarterback in Speight that should immediately compete for the starting job. Speight completed nearly 59 percent of his passes at U-M for 3,192 yards and 22 touchdowns.

It’s really unfortunate the way Speight’s career at Michigan ended — his gruesome back injury he sustained at Purdue in late September. It wasn’t the proper way to end a career, but this stuff happens all the time and is just a part of the game.

Speight is genuinely a good dude and more than capable of leading an offense, so I hope he is able to find success at UCLA and beyond.