National Football League

Chip Kelly has Browns, Eagles waiting

Published Jan. 6, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

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For once, Chip Kelly isn't in hurry-up mode.

Oregon's innovative offensive coach has not yet decided if he'll jump to the NFL and is weighing offers from the Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, who appear to be in a bidding war for the 49-year-old with zero pro experience. The Browns were close to completing a deal with Kelly on Friday, and the potential of it being finalized briefly had the Eagles going in another direction.

However, Kelly, who nearly accepted a job with Tampa Bay last year before pulling out at the last minute, kept a scheduled meeting Saturday with the Eagles that reportedly lasted nine hours.

There's a deeper wrinkle to the Cleveland vs. Philadelphia battle for Kelly. Browns CEO Joe Banner spent 19 seasons - the last 12 as president - in Philadelphia before he was forced out last year in a power struggle. He's childhood friends with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who may have succeeded in keeping Kelly away from going to Cleveland after it appeared the coach was headed there.

The Eagles may have used their background with Banner to convince Kelly that Cleveland was not a good fit. Banner was hired in October by new Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, a move that pushed out Mike Holmgren as president.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Kelly is no longer an option for the Browns, who will ''reboot'' their coaching search.

The Browns are not commenting on any of their interviews or candidates.

It's possible Kelly could stay at Oregon, where he has built the Ducks into a national power. Oregon has gone 46-7 in the last four years and made four consecutive BCS bowl games. Kelly run's a high-octane, fast-breaking offense, and elements of his schemes are already being used by New England and Washington.

If he returns to the Eugene, Ore., campus, Kelly may be facing NCAA sanctions as the school is being investigated for recruiting violations.

The Eagles, meanwhile, took their search to Denver to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.

Haslam and Banner have been in Arizona since firing Pat Shurmur last week. Shurmur went 9-23 in two seasons with Cleveland, which is seeking its sixth fulltime coach since 1999.

Before embarking on his coaching search, Haslam said there was no set time frame on finding a coach and he would wait has long as necessary to ''bring the right person to Cleveland.''

''Our goal is to get the best person and if we happen to find that person within a week, that's great and if it takes a month, that's great also,'' Haslam said. ''Sooner is preferable, but whatever timetable it takes to get the right person, we're going to take.''

One candidate has been crossed off Cleveland's list.

Doug Marrone will leave Syracuse to take over as coach of the Buffalo Bills, two people familiar with the team's search told The Associated Press on Sunday. Marrone, who served as New Orleans' offensive coordinator for three seasons, had two interviews with the Browns. He was viewed as a possible backup plan in case Cleveland couldn't land Kelly.

The Browns are also known to have spoken with former Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Penn State coach Bill O'Brien, who has decided to stay with the Nittany Lions. The interview of Horton satisfies the NFL's Rooney Rule for minority candidates.

A former NFL player, Whisenhunt, who led the Cardinals to a Super Bowl, spent one season as a special teams coordinator with Cleveland. He also served as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator from 2004-06, and that connection could serve him well with Haslam, who had a minority share in the Steelers before he bought the Browns from Randy Lerner for just over $1 billion.

Haslam and Banner are focused on hiring a coach first before turning their attention to a personnel executive. Tom Heckert, who overhauled Cleveland's roster in the past three years, was also fired following a 5-11 season. It's not known if the Browns have interviewed any GM candidates.

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