UCLA Football: Chip Kelly Emerging As Candidate For NFC East OC Gig

Will Chip Kelly leave for the NFL?

Current UCLA football head coach Chip Kelly could be returning to the NFL.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Kelly is being considered or the Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator opening under their new head coach, Dan Quinn. 

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is a potential candidate for #Commanders OC under new head coach Dan Quinn, per sources. Kelly, a two-time NFL head coach, is believed to have interest in returning to the league and Washington will consider talking with him.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 2, 2024

Quinn and Kelly were previously linked together when rumors suggested Quinn would be hired as the Seattle Seahawks next head coach. Instead, the Seahawks opted to hire Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

Kelly also interviewed for the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator opening, but they hired Kliff Kingsbury instead.

If Kelly were to get this gig, it would mark him returning to the NFL for the first time since 2016, when he had a one-and-done year going 2-14 as the San Francisco 49ers head coach. Prior to that, Kelly spent three seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach, winning one division title and going 10-6 twice before he was fired. 

Kelly has never actually served as an NFL offensive coordinator before, but worked his way up to an NFL head coaching gig by serving as Oregon's offensive coordinator before he was promoted to become their head coach, where he won three Pac-12 championships.

Since his last time in the NFL, Kelly has of course been the head coach of the UCLA Bruins since 2018. Kelly has had three straight winning seasons with the Bruins and has an overall record of 35-34 and a conference record of 26-26 with UCLA, but there has been hot seat rumors for him as of late. While his tenure has been overall successful, the Bruins haven't hit the peaks they've wanted to, and have higher standards as a football program.

If Kelly does leave for one of these offensive coordinator gigs, the question would be who the Bruins would pick for their next head coach, especially over a month after the college football season ended. With the Bruins already losing defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, the potential loss of Kelly would signal big changes in Westwood ahead of UCLA's Big Ten move.