Well, never mind. For the second year in a row. Reportedly. Again.
As of last week, it felt as though Oregon’s Chip Kelly would take his coaching talents to the NFL. Now it appears that will not be the case -- for the second year in a row.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported late Sunday night that Kelly has “turned down” a chance to go to the NFL, namely with the Philadelphia Eagles, and will return to Oregon for a fifth season as head coach. CSN Philly, the Eugene Register-Guard, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and NFL Network have all confirmed Schefter’s report.
The university has not yet commented officially.
Kelly was set to interview with multiple NFL organizations after last week’s Fiesta Bowl win over Kansas State, including the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and the Eagles. Right away, it appeared as though Kelly was on his way out of Eugene. NFL.com reported Friday that Kelly was close to inking a deal with the Browns, but that later gave way to more reports that he was going to continue to meet with NFL clubs.
By Sunday morning, it appeared the Browns and Kelly were not, in fact, going to pursue a deal and Syracuse coach Doug Marrone ended up as the new coach of the Bills. During that time, “Kelly either removed himself from consideration from the Browns’ opening or the Browns decided to move in a different direction,” per CSN Philly.
That left Kelly with the Eagles, but Peter King of Sports Illustrated was one of several media members to report that staying at Oregon was becoming a strong possibility for Kelly.
The growing storyline for Kelly’s on-again, off-again flirtation with the NFL over the past 48 hours or so was that the Ducks head coach may not have been entirely comfortable with the opportunities presented to him. Had Kelly left, it’s believed that Ducks offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich would be promoted to head coach. What happens with Helfrich going forward will be an interesting angle to watch.
But for the time being, it appears Kelly, who is 46-7 in four seasons with Oregon and has gone to a BCS game in all four of those years, is staying.