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Since the San Francisco 49ers fired head coach Chip Kelly after one 2-14 season, what’s next for him is very much in question. It immediately led to people wondering if he would return to college, after having great success at Oregon.
On Tuesday, Kelly told Fox Sports that he wouldn’t be opposed going back to the college game. “I evaluate all jobs individually,” he told Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman. “I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
“I’ve never said I’m only looking at one thing,” Kelly said. “I will never leave my team when there are games left in the season, so I never looked at college because all those jobs are filled while NFL season is still going on.”
Feldman added that there are a couple of schools contemplating making coaching changes if Kelly were willing to come on as their head coach. One of those would not be Oregon, as they recently hired Willie Taggart to replace Mark Helfrich.
On FS1’s Speak for Yourself, Jay Glazer said that Kelly told him that he’d go be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. He just wants to be in the game.
"Chip told me last night, 'I'll go be an offensive coordinator somewhere.' He just wants to be a football guy." —@JayGlazer on Chip Kelly pic.twitter.com/BhKQQcdPrb
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) January 2, 2017
Kelly’s gone into hazy situations in the NFL. He initially showed promise with the Eagles — and got them to the playoffs in his first season — but finished 26-21 in three years. The 49ers then hired him, where Glazer says that GM Trent Baalke had been trying to get him out for weeks. Baalke was also fired, along with Kelly.
Though his time in the NFL wasn’t as decorated as his time in the collegiate ranks was, it seems Kelly is still going to have options moving forward.
One of those will not be in New England, if you were hoping that he would replace Josh McDaniels in the case that he leaves for a head coaching gig.
Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald told Toucher & Rich Tuesday that a possible McDaniels replacement has already been groomed, so you can cross that one off the list, at the very least.