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On Sunday, the news that everyone knew was coming, but still really couldn’t believe anyway finally hit: Chip Kelly was fired as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
When the news became official, the first reaction was to discuss the absurdity of it all. How absurd it was to fire a head coach after just one season. How, even if Kelly did go to 2-14 this year, there was no way to really gauge his time in San Francisco and deem it a success or failure. How it was insane to expect Kelly to fix a broken organization, coming off a five-win season, in just one year.
But with Kelly now fired from two different NFL head coaching jobs in two seasons, it’s time for him to return to a place where he’s not a punchline, but a living legend. It’s time for him to return to a place where he will be able to basically pick his own job, and frankly, create his own market.
It's time for Chip Kelly to return to college football.
If you thought the college football coaching carousel was absurd before, wait until Chip Kelly sits for an entire season, just waiting for his next gig. To quote Terrell Owens, “get your popcorn ready.” This is going to be fun.
Now before we get into the nitty-gritty details, it's worth asking: Does Kelly really want to come back to college?
When he was fired in Philly last year, Kelly made it a point to say he planned to stay in the pro game and that he preferred the pro lifestyle. He had no interest in returning to college, where he would have to adhere to a strict practice schedule and stricter NCAA rules -- while also kissing butt on both the recruiting trail and with boosters.
But a lot has changed in the past year, and it’s hard to imagine a market for Kelly in the pro game.
Rarely does a coach get a third crack at an NFL head coaching job, let alone after being fired by two different organizations in two years. The best example of a guy getting a third shot is probably Pete Carroll, and even he needed a decade-long sabbatical at USC before that happened.
So unless Kelly wants to become an offensive coordinator in the pros – which seems absurd for a guy who has spent almost a decade as a head coach – sitting out 2017 and returning to the college game in 2018 might be his only real option. And if he does, to quote Verne Lundquist, “My gracious,” will he be entering a volatile market. A number of big jobs could be open, and as the best candidate available by far, he could have the pick of the litter when it comes to opportunities.
Think about all the jobs that could be available next December. Kevin Sumlin is skating on thin ice at Texas A&M after a third straight 8-5 season. Butch Jones has no margin for error after losing his four of his final seven regular season games at Tennessee. Notre Dame seems to be tired of Brian Kelly and Brian Kelly seems to be tired of Notre Dame, and a fresh start for both might be ideal. The list of potential openings doesn’t even include places like Auburn, Arkansas and UCLA, where another bad season could put those coaches in the crossfires.
And in looking at the market outside of Kelly, it’s hard to find very many quality candidates available, if any at all. After Tom Herman, Jeff Brohm and Willie Taggart all took Power 5 jobs this past winter, who besides P.J. Fleck looks like a sure thing? Even Fleck’s resume, while impressive, is embarrassingly thin compared to Kelly’s.
Kelly isn’t a guy who could work, or who might be the answer, but quite literally one of the best college coaches of the last decade. He was a monster at the college level, finishing with a staggering 87 percent win percentage in four years at Oregon, with four Pac-12 titles and an appearance in a national championship.
It sets up the ultimate juicy storyline: A premiere, top-notch coach sitting on the open market for an entire season, while each fanbase sits around and salivates at the possibility of bringing him in with each impending loss.
Never before have we seen a coach with that resume sit out for an extended period of time. Only Urban Meyer – in the year following his departure from Florida - is close, but no one knew if Meyer was physically healthy enough to return to coaching.
What Meyer did in 2011 is Kelly’s best bet for 2017. He needs to sit the year out, clear his head and relax. He should dabble in TV, visit college campuses, pick the brains of his buddies like Meyer and Nick Saban and return with a vengeance to college in the 2018 season.
At this point, it’s not only Chip Kelly’s best option, but quite possibility his only option.
It’s time for Chip Kelly to return to college football.
