With Raiders Hiring Kelly, AFC West Full of Historic CFB Ties

The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers are NFL rivals and their coaches once battled it out on the college level. It is set to continue in the pros.

Jul 30, 2009; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pacific-10 Conference commissioner Larry Scott (center) poses with conference football coaches at media day at the Sheraton Gateway LAX hotel. From left: Steve Sarkisian of Washington, Rick Neuheisel of UCLA, Dennis Erickson of Arizona State, Jim Harbaugh of Stanford, Mike Riley of Oregon State, Scott, Jeff Tedford of California, Paul Wulff of Washington State, Pete Carroll of Southern California, Chip Kelly of Oregon and Mike Stoops of Arizona. Mandatory | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

There are a whole bunch of Big 10, Pac-12 connections in the AFC West.

With the Las Vegas Raiders' hiring of Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the historical ties between the Silver and Black's Pete Carroll and Los Angeles Chargers' Jim Harbaugh are strengthened even more.

All three coached highly successful programs in the Pac-12. Carroll led the USC Trojans to a near-"threepeat" national title run. Harbaugh was wildly successful at Stanford. Kelly took the Oregon Ducks to a national championship appearance. Of course, these were in the days of the Pac-10.

Between Kelly and Harbaugh, the ties run as deep as college football's most historical rivalry -- "The Game" -- Michigan and Ohio State, and a less elevated but compelling one between the Ducks and Cardinal.

"Kelly and Harbaugh also go way back to their Pac-10 days with Kelly coordinating the offense for an Oregon team that handed Harbaugh's Stanford squad it's only loss of the 2010 season, a game in which the Ducks stormed back from a 21-3 deficit to win 52-31," wrote Chargers On SI's Brian Letscher. "Now Kelly will call the plays for Carroll. Against Harbaugh. With Kelly having just finished in the same capacity for the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes who are, of course, the arch-rivals of the Michigan Wolverines, the school for which Harbaugh played and, of course, led to a national championship just a year ago. After beating Ohio State three years in a row. But, wait, we're not done. Ohio State's big loss this season, one that had fans calling for Kelly's head? Yep, Michigan. A game in which Kelly's offense only produced 10 points, including getting shut out in the second half."

Letscher also pointed out another Big 10 connection, this one at the top of the Raiders organization; minority owner Tom Brady, perhaps the greatest "Michigan Man" in the history of the term. At minimum, the most successful one.

"As that weren't enough, the Raiders made Kelly the highest-paid paid OC in the NFL with a contract worth $6 million per year," Letscher wrote. "That's more than Texans head coach Demeco Ryans is paid. How is Las Vegas able to pay so much to a coordinator? Well, they recently had a large infusion of cash from new owners. New owners led by a Mr. Tom Brady. Seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady. The Tom Brady who went to college where? All together now...Michigan."

The Pac-10 ties are compelling as it is. Given the fact that the geographical situation isn't too far off -- the AFC West stands in the region to forever be known as "Pac-10 country", the tensions might just mean more.

The AFC West looks to be the best-coached division in football. Sure-fire first ballot Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid. A Super Bowl-winner in Sean Payton, who might not get a bust in Canton but will surely go down in NFL history as one of the sports best coaches.

Harbaugh, of course, is a proven winner at both the NFL and college levels.

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