Chip Kelly didn’t land on his feet when he took the offensive coordinator job at Northwestern on Tuesday, a month later the Las Vegas Raiders fired him.
More likely, he’ll land on his butt, sitting in a comfy chair overlooking Ryan Field, the Wildcats’ sparkling new $850 million stadium, while calling plays for a program that finished 15th in the Big Ten in points per game this season.
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This is what a consolation prize looks like. A year ago, Kelly was calling plays at Ohio State, college football’s most prolific offense and eventual national champion. He would still be there, once again pulling the strings for a massive offense in the College Football Playoff, but for his decision to move on to the Raiders.
It was a real free fall. Las Vegas was 2-9 when Kelly was fired shortly after the lowly Cleveland Browns recorded 10 sacks in a 24-10 win over the Raiders on November 23. Whatever playing magic Kelly mustered at Ohio State didn’t translate to the NFL, where in years past he had mostly failed in head coaching stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Kelly, who honed his reputation as a man of few words during his mediocre 2018-2023 tenure as UCLA head coach, expressed no hard feelings toward the Raiders upon his departure.
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“Hey, we have to win,” he said told a journalist. “I understand.”
Learn more: Pete Carroll fires Chip Kelly after another unsightly Raiders offensive performance
Now he will have the opportunity to repair his reputation at Northwestern. Coach David Braun is clearly enamored with Kelly, who solidified his offensive genius by leading Oregon to a 46-7 record as head coach from 2009-12.
“His innovative approach to offense using systems focused on variable tempo, efficiency and smart decision-making, his track record of developing quarterbacks and his ability to maximize talent are exactly what our program needs right now,” Braun said in a statement. “Make no mistake: this is a game-changing change for the program and reflects our long-term commitment to the pursuit of championships.”
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The only titles Northwestern can claim are a dozen academic excellence awards from the American Football Coaches Assn. since 2002. Since leaving Oregon, Kelly has stumbled at every stop except the one season at Ohio State, where he still might have called plays if he hadn’t left for the lure of the NFL.
This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
