Tag: Offensive Coordinator

Raiders new OC Chip Kelly walked away from head coach job, ‘rekindled’ love for football

The Raiders new OC decision to step away from head coaching turned out to be a great decision. and he couldn’t be happier.

This time a year ago, Chip Kelly was the head coach at UCLA. And after leading the Bruins to an 8-5 record and a win over Boise State in the LA Bowl, the university had planned to have him back. But Kelly had other ideas. And it involved a rare decision to give up his head coaching job to return to being an offensive coordinator.

It’s not unusual for a college head coach to take a coordinator position at the next level. But Kelly was simply moving to another Big Ten team, making for a somewhat unconventional move.

It paid off though. A year later, he helped the Buckeyes win a National Championship and was called back to the NFL by the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Fresh off taking the job with the Raiders, I asked Kelly what went into his decision a year ago to give up his head coaching job to become an OC again.

“Part of it was in our bowl game a year ago against Boise [State],” Kelly replied. “Our quarterback coach had left to be the coach at Oregon State and then for those two-and-a-half weeks before the bowl game, I got a chance to coach the quarterbacks again, and coach a position again and I think my wife remarked ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time’. 

“But I think you really start to think and get the perspective of the essence of why you do what you do and I’ve really enjoyed the one-on-ones with the quarterbacks and being with a specific group. As a head coach you’re in every meeting. You’re in the Oline meeting then you’re in the Dline meeting, but you miss just having a position group. And I thought about it and when an opportunity presented itself like would you consider not being a head coach anymore, to just be a coordinator and just be a position coach, it was appealing.”

Over a couple months time, Kelly had time to consider what he wanted to do as a coach. And ultimately the answer came from someone who he had a football connection from nearly a quarter century ago.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day’s football career began at New Hampshire under Kelly. And three times since then Day has been on Kelly’s coaching staff. Now 27 years since Day first took the field for Kelly, Day was hiring his former head coach to lead his offense with the Buckeyes. And merger was obviously a great one.

“It just kind of rekindled my love for just coaching football,” Kelly said. “I think sometimes as a head coach those rules turn into like a little bit of a CEO at the college level. With the advent of NIL and the transfer portal I think coaches are getting pulled in a lot of different directions and it’s away from actually coaching football. And I just really enjoy coaching football.”

Coaches and GMs talk about wanting players who love football. Well, it’s a valuable trait in a coach as well. To have a coach who has seen the top of his profession at multiple levels and has decided that the position that the team wants him to be is also where he thrives.

Kellen Moore lays out the traits he believes a head coach needs most

Kellen Moore discussed the traits he believes a head coach needs most — and said that he’d continue to call plays if hired by a team like the Saints:

Kellen Moore is expected to transition from offensive coordinator to head coach by this time next week. Moore had media availability in preparation for the Philadelphia Eagles appearance in Super Bowl LIX. Of course, his pending promotion was a topic of conversation.

Moore laid out what he believes it takes to to be a good head coach, and it’s probably a summarized version of what he told the New Orleans Saints. Moore told reporters at Monday night’s Super Bowl LIX media night, “You got to lead the group, you got to be an expert in some capacity You got to be able communicate at a really high level.”

The group Moore will have to lead is about to grow. He’s used to having to lead and communicate with just the offense, but now he’ll have to be involved in all three aspects of the game.

Don’t expect Moore to abandon his strength, however, and become a helicopter coach. He would still call plays as a head coach, which aligns with the requirement of being an expert in a category: “It’s something that’s gotten me to this place. You’d hate to stop doing what you love as you go through this journey.”

Because he’ll be involved with play calling he’ll have to be more hands on with the offense than any other phase of the game. Moore will be in the offensive meeting rooms most frequently, so you’d like a defensive coordinator with strong leadership traits as well, possibly a former head coach.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Raiders make OC Chip Kelly NFL’s highest paid coordinator

The Raiders aren’t messing around in making sure they get the coaching staff they want this season.

The Raiders aren’t messing around this offseason. They are aggressively going after what they want. Though they may not have reeled in the prize head coach candidate of the offseason, with Ben Johnson heading to Chicago, they immediately shifted to landing former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

With Carroll’s legacy established, the Raiders made sure they got their choices at the coordinator positions. First retaining DC Patrick Graham and then quickly nabbing Chip Kelly weeks after he guided a juggernaut Ohio State offense to a National Championship.

They made sure they got their guys by offering them sizable contracts, including making Chip Kelly the highest paid OC in the league.

Kelly was likely in demand after what he accomplished in his one season in Columbus. Especially when you consider his history as an offensive guru, namely back when he was the offensive coordinator and later the head coach at Oregon.

For the Raiders part, they needed to rebound from their disastrous attempts last offseason where it appeared they were going to be hiring Kliff Kingsbury only to have him back out due to the Raiders being only willing to commit to a two-year contract. Kingsbury instead went to Washington and helped the Commanders in their playoff run.

High-profile coach returns to NFL with Broncos’ division rival

The Broncos will face a Chip Kelly-coached offense when they play against the Raiders in 2025.

Chip Kelly is returning to the NFL.

The offensive guru has joined the Las Vegas Raiders as their new offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports (via Raiders Wire). Kelly is set to earn an average of $6 million per year in Las Vegas, according to The MMQB’s Albert Breer, making him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.

Kelly, 61, has an extensive background in college football. He left Oregon to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach in 2013. Kelly was fired after going 26-21, then he landed with the San Francisco 49ers. After going 2-14 in San Francisco, Kelly was fired again and returned to the NCAA level.

Kelly served as UCLA’s head coach from 2018-2023, going 35-34. He then served as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2024, helping the Buckeyes win a College Football Playoff National Championship.

The Denver Broncos faced the Eagles once when Kelly was their head coach, with the Broncos winning that game 52-20 in 2013. He will now coach a Raiders offense that is set to face Denver twice each season.

[vertical-gallery id=620142]

Fresh off National Championship run Chip Kelly hired as Raiders OC

One year at Ohio State was all it took for Chip Kelly to take an offense to a national championship and a return to the NFL with the Raiders.

Chip Kelly is back in the NFL. After leading the Ohio State offense to the National Championship, the former Eagles and Oregon Ducks head coach will be the Raiders next offensive coorcinator.

Kelly was at Ohio State for just one season, which makes for some impressive results. Previous to that he had been a head coach for several years, starting at Oregon before heading to the NFL to coach the Eagles, then spent a year with the 49ers, before heading back to the college ranks at UCLA.

While Kelly’s head coaching record has not great since his days at Oregon, it’s his work as an offensive coordinator where he has developed a reputation as one of football’s greatest innovators.

He and Pete Carroll coached against each other for three seasons in the Pac-10. The first two with Kelly as Oregon’s OC and the final season in 2009 when Kelly was promoted to head coach. The Ducks went to the Rose Bowl that year, which was Carroll’s final season at USC before leaving to take the Seahawks job.

Report: A leading candidate emerges for Jaguars’ offensive coordinator role

According to one report, a leading candidate is emerging for the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator opening.

A front-runner has emerged for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive coordinator opening.

According to Aaron Wilson, multiple league sources tell him that LA Rams offensive assistant and passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase is the leading candidate for the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator job.

Scheelhaase is one of a few candidates that the Jaguars have interviewed for this opening at this time.

The 2024 season was Scheelhaase’s first with the Rams. Prior to that, he coached at the college level, holding a number of roles with Iowa State during his tenure there from 2018-2023.

This included being the team’s offensive coordinator during his final year there. That season, Iowa State operated at an efficient level, ranking 23rd in yards per play

Jaguars’ head coach Liam Coen confirmed that he will be the one calling plays and that he does consider himself apart of the Sean McVay coaching tree after having two stints with the Rams.

Scheelhaase’s time with the Rams would likely help create some continuity in Jacksonville and he and Coen implement the new offensive scheme.

The top priority for Coen and whoever his offensive coordinator ends up being will be getting Trevor Lawrence back on track. Accomplishing that will consist of building the offense around Lawrence, along with having a much improved run game to help open up opportunities in the passing game.

REPORT: Bears hiring former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy

According to a report, the Chicago #Bears are set to hire former Kansas City #Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy to be their running backs coach.

According to a report from FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz on Saturday, the Chicago Bears are hiring former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as their new running backs coach.

Bieniemy spent nine years as a running backs coach and offensive coordinator with the Chiefs before moving to the nation’s capital to become the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Washington Commanders for the 2023 season.

After his stint with the Commanders, the two-time Super Bowl champion was named offensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the UCLA Bruins but was unfortunately relieved of his duties after the 2024 season.

Bieniemy was rumored to be a potential replacement for the Chiefs if Kansas City’s current offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy, sought a new position with another team in the offseason.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson is sure to benefit greatly from Bieniemy’s experience and leadership in his first season with Chicago.

Report: Eagles ‘bracing to lose’ OC Kellen Moore after Super Bowl

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Philadelphia Eagles are ‘bracing to lose’ their offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to the Saints after Super Bowl LIX:

The New Orleans Saints have had a clear frontrunner for their head coaching vacancy the past few days, Kellen Moore. That sentiment has only grown stronger as it was reported that they will meet again after Super Bowl LIX, with general manager Mickey Loomis informing other candidates that’s when the decision will be made. NFL rules prohibit the Saints from hiring anyone on a staff competing in the Super Bowl — like Moore — until after the title game.

In a recent ESPN article discussing the Senior Bowl rumor mill and some of the information moving around there, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler shared a good nugget on Moore and his potential departure from the Philadelphia Eagles:

“Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is the favorite to land the Saints head coaching job, to the point where people with the Eagles are bracing to lose him. Moore is putting together ideas for staffing and other New Orleans candidates have essentially been put on ice. But I’m told Moore wants to get through the Super Bowl game-planning before making any determinations.”

This only makes things more clear, as not only are the Saints preparing further meetings in the window after the Super Bowl, but the notion that the Eagles are preparing for life without Moore shows that, at minimum, there is a large enough interest for them to be concerned about him leaving. We will learn within the next few weeks who ultimately gets the Saints job, but right now, their choice seems relatively clear.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Cowboys hire offensive coordinator whose strength is OL, run-game philosophies

The Cowboys have hired Klayton Adams as their newest offensive coordinator, here’s what he brings from Arizona. | From @ArmyChiefW3

It may have been touch and go for a bit, but Dallas officially hired the last of the big three coordinators for new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimers’ staff. On Friday, a week after Schotty’s hire was announced, the team agreed to terms with Klayton Adams as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Adams had been the offensive line coach in Arizona for the past two seasons under head coach Jonathan Gannon.

This will be the first time Adams will hold the offensive coordinator position in the NFL which began in 2019 as an assistant offensive line coach under then-Colts head coach Frank Reich.

The Cowboys new OC spent time with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus in Indianapolis, working together for three seasons before both moved on from the Colts after 2021.

Adams is renowned for his run-play designs, which helped Arizona go from a middling rushing team to a top-ten unit. The Cardinals ranked seventh in rushing yards per game this season and eighth in rushing touchdowns. Arizona averaged 5.3 yards per carry as a team which ranked second in the NFL just behind Baltimore who averaged 5.8 yards an attempt.

Dallas has publicly stated that they want someone who is outstanding in the running game and Adams’ credentials certainly qualify him for the position. While Adams will carry the title of OC, it is widely expected that Schottenheimer will call plays on offense, much like the hierarchy when Mike McCarthy was the head coach for the Cowboys.

The spotlight in Dallas has been known to be more exaggerated than most other NFL cities but Adams may have a leg up on other first-time Cowboys coaches. He graduated from Boise State in 2005 with a degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism.

Adams began his coaching career as a student assistant in 2005 with Boise State. He went on to coach at West Washington University in 2007 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

He spent two seasons as an offensive assistant at Sacramento State and another two seasons with San Jose State before heading to Colorado in 2013 to coach the running backs and tight ends.

He became the Buffaloe’s offensive line coach in 2016 and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2018 before joining the Colts for the 2019 season.

Raiders first assistant interview is former Pete Carroll coordinator with Seahawks

Pete Carroll’s first call as Raiders head coach went to very a familiar face.

Barely a day has passed since Pete Carroll was introduced as the Raiders new head coach. And he is wasting no time putting his staff together. The first interview was held on Tuesday and it’s someone Carroll knows extremely well — Darrell Bevell.

Bevell was Carroll’s OC in Seattle for seven seasons from 2011-17. In total Bevell has a total of 15 seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator. He has been the QB coach and passing game coordinator in Miami the past three seasons.

Carroll said Monday that he wants a mixture of coaches who have worked with him, who have not worked with him, and coaches on staff. But those who have coached with him before is is priority.

“We’re in the midst of getting started,” Carroll said Monday of the coaching search. “Like John [Spytek] and I, we’re just getting started at it. However, we have been talking to some people and we’re trying to put this thing together. I’m really looking for people that have been with me, that understand the philosophy to some extent.”

Bevell certainly fits that mold and you’d have to think he has an inside track on the job at this point.