Chip Kelly has been preparing his high-powered Ohio State offense to face Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship, and the work he has done with the Buckeyes could lead to interest from at least one NFL team.
Mike Vrabel is in the process of assembling a coaching staff, and ESPN’s Mike Reiss believes Kelly could be “an outside-the-box possibility” for the New England Patriots coach to consider as an offensive coordinator. As Reiss wrote in his Sunday notes column, Vrabel has connections to Ohio State and was interested in Buckeyes coach Ryan Day as an offensive coordinator candidate when Vrabel was named head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2018.
Day played under Kelly at the University of New Hampshire. He later spent a brief time on Kelly’s coaching staff at UNH. Kelly is in his first season as the OC at Ohio State, and the Buckeyes’ offense has hit its stride at the perfect time.
Vrabel, of course, played linebacker at Ohio State and got his start there as a coach.
Kelly was the head coach at UCLA for six seasons before he replaced Bill O’Brien as the OC at Ohio State. He also spent four seasons in the NFL — three as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and one as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He compiled an overall record of 28-35 and was fired from both positions. Kelly is well compensated in his current role.
Vrabel seems more likely to hire another high-profile candidate as his offensive coordinator in New England, but Kelly is now at least part of the conversation.
