Report: Seahawks Interviewing Chip Kelly For Offensive Coordinator Role
After spending the past six seasons as head coach at UCLA, Chip Kelly could be returning to the NFL as an offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks among several teams interested in his services.
According to Benjamin Solak of the Ringer, Kelly will be interviewing for Seattle's vacant offensive coordinator role on Tuesday night. He reportedly interviewed twice with the Las Vegas Raiders and also had been linked to the Washington Commanders before new coach Dan Quinn ultimately hired Kliff Kingsbury for the position.
Once viewed as one of the most innovative offensive minds in the sport, Kelly led Oregon to top-three rankings in scoring offense in three of his four seasons at the helm, using that success to land a head coaching job with the Eagles in 2012. Philadelphia made the postseason as a wild card and won 10 games in his first season with the organization behind a top-five scoring offense and a dynamic rushing attack.
Though the Eagles wouldn't make the playoffs again under Kelly, his offense remained effective as the team finished in the top five in points scored again in 2013 and a respectable 13th overall finish in 2014 despite playing three different quarterbacks. After being dismissed late in the 2014 season, he endured one rough year with the 49ers, going 2-14 with a trainwreck roster before being fired again.
Still highly coveted for his creative ideas on offense, Chip Kelly has been on the Seattle Seahawks radar for a while and could be a front runner to take over as offensive coordinator.
After returning to the college ranks at UCLA, Kelly needed a few years to right the ship in Westwood, as the Bruins finished 80th or worse in scoring offense in his first two years with the program. But once he started to get his own recruits and had time to develop those players, results started to show, as they jumped up to 20th in scoring offense in a COVID-shortened 2020 season.
With an dual-threat quarterback in Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a bevy of quality skill players around him, UCLA finished 13th and eighth in scoring offense in 2021 and 2022 respectively as Kelly re-emerged as one of the sport's best offensive play callers. Last season didn't go near as well offensively, but much of that boiled down to instability at quarterback and the team still went 8-5 and won a bowl game.
Still under contract with the Bruins, Kelly hasn't been silent about his issues with college football as rivalries go down the drain due to realignment and the transfer portal makes building and sustaining a roster extremely difficult. As a result of these changes and little oversight from the NCAA, several college head coaches have already bolted to the NFL this offseason, including former Boston College coach Jeff Hafley departing to take the Packers defensive coordinator job last month.
Though he would likely not make as much money transitioning to the league as an offensive coordinator, Kelly wouldn't have to worry about all of the administrative duties that come with being a head coach at the college level. Not having to concern himself with NIL payments, recruiting, or any of those burdensome tasks, he could focus solely on crafting his offensive scheme to attack opponents.
As for his potential fit in Seattle, Kelly managed to win double-digit games in two of his seasons in Philadelphia with the likes of Sam Bradford, an aging Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Mark Sanchez under center. With Geno Smith - who Kelly once recruited at Oregon - set to return after making his second straight Pro Bowl and a loaded group of position players headlined by DK Metcalf and Ken Walker III, he would have no shortage of weapons to build his offense around both in the passing and run game.
After being rumored as a potential candidate for the Seahawks prior to naming a head coach, with Macdonald preferring "open-minded" play callers who can connect with players, Kelly could be an exciting fit due to his innovative ideas and prior experience coaching winning programs at the NFL and college level.
With his interview taking place this evening, Kelly joins former Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand as the third reported interview for Seattle's offensive coordinator vacancy. Assuming New Orleans hires Klint Kubiak for the same role after the Super Bowl, it will be the only offensive coordinator opening left in the league if a hiring isn't made by that point.
