Chip Kelly emerges as name to watch for major college football head coaching job

Renown football coach Chip Kelly is back on the market, a common occurrence lately. Kelly has now left three coaching roles in the last three seasons, abandoning his post as UCLA head coach back in 2023 to become the Ohio State offensive coordinator, a role he held one season before absconding to the NFL to become the OC of the Las Vegas Raiders under Pete Carroll.

Kelly didn't even last a year in his most recent role, as the Raiders opted to fire Kelly after his offense failed to match strides with Shedeur Sanders and the Browns in a November loss which dropped Vegas to 2-9 on the season. Now, could a return to the college football ranks, where Kelly once ruled, be in the cards? NFL insider Mike Florio is reporting the possibility on the heels of a hectic day in the CFB coaching world.

Five SEC football programs came away with new coaches this weekend: Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss. But as soon as the dust settled on those announcements, Kentucky decided late Sunday night to part ways with longtime head coach Mark Stoops, opening yet another gig in the south. Well, after word of Stoops' axing spread across the social media streets, Mike Florio wrote on his site, Pro Football Talk, that he's heard Chip Kelly could be a name to watch for Kentucky's new opening.

"Word is circulating among Kentucky players that Kelly could be the team’s next head coach," Florio wrote. "That doesn’t mean he will be. It doesn’t even mean he’s an official candidate. It means only that Kentucky players have somehow developed the impression that Kelly could be the new coach."

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops walks onto the field before the game against the Mississippi Rebels | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

What interesting and tricky wording there by Florio. He doesn't say the news comes from any official source, rather that Kentucky's players have "somehow developed the impression" that former Oregon and NFL head coach Chip Kelly could break ground on a new coaching adventure in Lexington. As for the Raiders, it may assuage some of the buyout they're paying him over the recent firing.

Chip Kelly did a lot of small-time coaching in New Hampshire and across New England before making his big breakthrough at Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, first as OC and then as head coach. Of course, he then wound up at the Philadelphia Eagles for a while, the 49ers for a minute, and then returned to college with UCLA and eventually Ohio State. Is Kentucky his latest and greatest college coaching stop? According to Mike Florio, Kentucky's roster is anticipating the possibility.

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