Chip Kelly will leave the Oregon football program to join the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League as their head coach. Kelly had previously decided to stay in the NCAA with the Ducks after multiple NFL head coach offers, but changed his mind.
Kelly was 46-7 in his four seasons at Oregon, and led the Ducks to a BCS bowl game in each of those seasons. Kelly earned the attention of several NFL teams, and interviewed with the Eagles, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills prior to his decision to stay with Oregon. The Eagles interviewed 10 other candidates for the head coach position before both the Eagles and Kelly reached an agreement today.
“Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles. He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words,” Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Eagles, said. “He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team.”
It was his up-tempo, no huddle style that earned Kelly the spotlight in the NCAA. It is a style already being replicated in the NFL by teams such as the Washington Redskins and the New England Patriots.
Philadelphia fired their head coach Andy Reid before the new year, as did several other NFL teams. Reid was the Eagles head coach from 1999 to 2012, in which time he led the team to five NFC championship games (four consecutive from 2001 to 2004) and to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004. He was fired in 2012 after a 4-12 season.