It looks like Chip Kelly is on the move after all.
The Philadelphia Eagles have announced that they have hired the now former Oregon head coach to fill their head coaching vacancy. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen was the first to break the news.
“Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said Wednesday. “He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team.”
Kelly had been pursued by multiple NFL teams shortly after the season ended, but he reportedly made the decision to stay at Oregon 10 days ago. In fact, the Cleveland Browns were reportedly close to hiring Kelly a couple of weeks ago before he decided to stay put.
Either that was wrong, or the now first-time NFL head coach changed his mind. The limbo was nothing new for Kelly, who flirted with the NFL following last season, too.
Kelly spent four seasons at Oregon, where he went 46-7. The Ducks reached four BCS bowls in that time, including the BCS national championship following the 2010 regular season. Oregon lost that game, as part of Kelly’s 2-2 bowl record, which was aided by a pair of wins in last year’s Rose Bowl and this year’s Fiesta Bowl. The 49-year-old is a two-time Pac-10 coach of the year winner and won multiple national head coach of the year awards following that 2010 season.
Kelly is a New Hampshire native who attended the University of New Hampshire. He became the UNH offensive coordinator in 1999, a job he eventually parlayed into the same position at Oregon in 2007 before taking over as head coach in 2009.
