Chip Kelly said several times when he was coaching both the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers that he has no interest in returning to the collegiate game. Now that he is unemployed, things have changed.
Kelly told Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports on Tuesday that he plans to evaluate all job offers individually and “wouldn’t rule anything out.” That includes being the head coach of a college team.
“I’ve never said I’m only looking at one thing,” Kelly said. “I will never leave my team when there are games left in the season, so I never looked at college because all those jobs are filled while NFL season is still going on.
“I only talked to NFL teams after our bowl game was over when I was at Oregon. It’s pretty simple for me: You can never leave your players during the season. How can you ask players to be all in and then leave when you get a better deal?”
Kelly, acknowledging that he is not going to get a head coaching job in the NFL next season, said earlier in the week that he is willing to take a position as an offensive coordinator. But if the right opportunity at the college level came along, he’s clearly open to considering it.
Will that opportunity present itself? Feldman reports that more than one school is contemplating making a coaching change if it means they could land Kelly.
Kelly’s one season with the 49ers was a disaster, but a report we heard about how he was overruled on draft day actually makes him look better. His success in college at Oregon speaks for itself. Kelly will be getting a lot of phone calls from colleges in the coming days.
