It seems obvious by now: Chip Kelly is tired of the recruiting game. He just wants to call plays for an offense in the NFL or in college. Being the leader of a college football program is something he no longer seems to relish, at least at UCLA.
Kelly is, according to NFL insiders, making contact with NFL teams. He is doing the chasing, not the NFL teams themselves. The latest team he is pursuing for a possible NFL offensive coordinator job: the Seattle Seahawks under new head coach Mike Macdonald.
“The UCLA Bruins head coach reportedly interviewed with the Las Vegas Raiders for their OC job and was mentioned as a candidate for the Washington Commanders opening before Kliff Kingsbury was hired.
“Now, it turns out Kelly is interviewing for the Seattle Seahawks OC job, per a report from Benjamin Solak of The Ringer. In Solak’s tweet, he put Oregon HC but later corrected it in the reply.
“Kelly’s name again is included in an NFL OC opening, and it might be a matter of time before he heads back to the pros. The Seahawks were thought to be targeting Alabama OC Ryan Grubb, who followed Kalen DeBoer from Washington.”
The other plot point to watch with Chip Kelly: Will Bill O’Brien leave his spot as Ohio State offensive coordinator to take the head coaching job at Boston College? If so, Kelly could become Ohio State offensive coordinator. The Buckeyes have other ace recruiters on staff. Kelly would not be expected to do a lot of recruiting if hired by Ryan Day.
UCLA fans want Kelly to go, but the Bruins will likely have a hard time finding a quality coach this late in the carousel cycle. They’re in a tough spot.
Such a shame, right? Maybe they should have fired Chip in November when they had the chance.
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