Chip Kelly’s tenure as the Oregon Ducks’ head coach from 2009-12 was among the most successful in the history of the football program.
Now, nearly a decade followig his departure from Eugene, there’s a decent chance that Kelly will return as the Ducks’ head coach.
Following the departure of Mario Cristobal to the Miami Hurricanes, Oregon has reportedly asked permission from UCLA to speak with Chip Kelly about its vacant head coach job.
Talk about coming full circle.
Another report indicates that big time Oregon donor Phil Knight of Nike is interested in bringing in Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin to be the Ducks’ next head coach.
For now, let’s focus on Kelly. It would be a pretty big coup for Oregon to bring in the current Bruins head man.
Related: Top Oregon head coach candidates
Chip Kelly’s success at Oregon
- 2009: 10-3, lost Rose Bowl
- 2010: 12-1, lost BCS National Championship
- 2011: 12-2, won Rose Bowl
- 2012: 12-1, won Fiesta Bowl
As you can see, Kelly had a tremendous amount of success as Oregon’s head coach. We’re talking about four consecutive appearances in big bowl games and a combined 46-7 record. That’s hard to beat.
However, Kelly has had a mixed bag since leaving the Ducks. He posted a combined 28-35 record in parts of four seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers head coach. That included Kelly being one-and-done in Northern California following a two-win 2016 campaign.
Thus far with the Bruins, Kelly has posted a disastrous 18-25 record. That included three consecutive seasons with four wins or fewer. However, he has UCLA at 8-4 and preparing for a Holiday Bowl outing against North Carolina State this year.
There’s obviously a selling point for both Chip Kelly and the Ducks here. Oregon is seen as a much better job on a national stage than UCLA. As for what Kelly brings to the table, he’s one of the top recruitors in the nation.
This should get interested.