Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Chip Kelly, who was heavily courted by several NFL teams over the past month but was reportedly staying at the NCAA level with the Oregon Ducks, will be jumping ship after all and heading to fill the head coaching vacancy for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Little is known about the deal as of this time, but it seems that an agreement was reached early on Wednesday, Jan 16.
Kelly first came to Oregon in 2007 and served as the Offensive Coordinator for the Ducks for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In March of 2009 it was announced that then Oregon coach Mike Bellotti would be promoted to Athletic Director and Kelly would move into the head coaching slot.
Kelly won the Pac-10 in his first year at the helm and earned a Rose Bowl berth. 2010 saw Kelly’s Ducks go 12-0 in the regular season and earn a trip to the BCS National Championship Game where they would be defeated by the Cam Newton led Auburn Tigers. In 2011 Kelly would lead Oregon to their third straight conference title by winning the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game and would go on to win the Rose Bowl. Though finishing with an overall record of 12-1, 2012 was a slight disappointment for Kelly and his Ducks as their only loss kept them out of both the Pac-12 and BCS championship games.
Kelly is known as an offensive genius, which the Eagles desperately need. If he finds success at the NFL level the Eagles could be back to contending for Super Bowls in a couple years.
Oregon on the other hand will have to scramble to find a new head coach and try to not lose pace with the rising powers in the Pac-12. With programs like the UCLA Bruins, Stanford Cardinals, cross state rival Oregon State Beavers and the ever dangerous USC Trojans running around it might be hard for Oregon to recover as quickly as they would like to from the loss of Kelly.
