Many UCLA fans have spent years clamoring for Chip Kelly’s dismissal and made their feelings known via empty seats in the Rose Bowl and outrage on social media.
Turns out, the feeling might be mutual: It seems Kelly wants nothing to do with UCLA.
He reportedly is pursuing job opportunities in the NFL and, perhaps, elsewhere in major college football. But in a highly unusual development, none of those opportunities constitute upward moves. In fact, they aren’t even lateral.
If the barrage of media reports is to be believed, Kelly is so tired of UCLA that he’s willing to become an offensive coordinator in the NFL or, potentially, a playcaller in the Big Ten.
Not all the reports linking Kelly to coordinator openings in the NFL (Commanders, Raiders) have been confirmed, and he hasn’t uttered a public peep about the situation. But at least one link is legitimate: An interview with the Seahawks to join new coach Mike Macdonald’s staff as the offensive playcaller.
And if Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien fills the head coaching vacancy at Boston College, as many expect, Kelly could become a top candidate in Columbus to coach under Ryan Day, his former player (at New Hampshire).
In other words, a Big Ten-bound head coach making $6 million annually (approximately) would abdicate his position for a lesser role and lower compensation. And he’s making no secret of it, for the situation is playing out publicly on a daily basis.
Kelly is different. He has always been different. He was into hydration methods and sleep study and geo-tracking long before his coaching peers. But even for Kelly, this is bananas — not to mention an embarrassment for everyone involved.
Not to worry. The Hotline is here to help decipher a development that traces its roots to the first month of Kelly’s first season.
September 2018 feels like an eternity ago. The world was unaware of a wet market in Wuhan, China. All was quiet on the realignment front. The transfer…
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