Jan. 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA: Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2013 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Eagles have pulled of a shocking hire. Many had believed Chip Kelly decided to stay with the University of Oregon. He cited “unfinished business” as a factor in his decision to stay at Oregon. Kelly did say he’d listen to any NFL offers he garnished.
“I’ll listen and we’ll see,” Kelly said.
Kelly has been a hot commodity in the coaching conversations this year for his work at Oregon.
He has led the Ducks to several appearances atop the poll with the #1 ranking and to a BCS National Championship game. He has also led the Ducks to 3 straight BCS Bowl appearances, most recently a victory over Big 12 Champion Kansas State Wildcats in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Well according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN the Philadelphia Eagles and Jeffrey Lurie have made Chip Kelly the franchise’s 21st head coach. The Cleveland Browns were also said to be interested in Kelly but moved on after he seemed indecisive about his future.
Chip Kelly is the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to league sources. No announcement yet.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 16, 2013
And at first the seemed like breaking news, with the built in escape hatch should it not materialize but Mortensen shortly followed up with this tweet.
Eagles make it official by announcing Chip Kelly as their head coach. Owner Jeffrey Lurie gets the man he wanted all along.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 16, 2013
Interestingly enough, divisional rivals Dallas Cowboys had hired Monte Kiffin to be their defensive coordinator. Kiffin has been USC’s defensive coordinator since 2010, having played Chip Kelly and his offensive juggernaut at Oregon twice. Landry Locker of ESPN Radio in Dallas pointed out that in those 3 games, Chip Kelly had a 2-1 record against Kiffin while averaging over 600 yards a game and 50 points.
That unlikely played a part in his hiring seeing as he was a target before Kiffin’s hiring by the Cowboys. But it certainly shouldn’t make Eagles fans less excited about the hiring.
“This is going to be a very large contract — likely five years for more than $6 million per year — and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was even bigger than that given the way this went down,” Dan Graziano said, an NFC East blogger for ESPN.