University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly was being talked about as an NFL head coaching candidate long before the end of the 2012 season and that chatter has intensified in the wake of the seven firings around the NFL on Monday.
Kelly has been linked to the job openings in Philadelphia and Cleveland, but he offered no hint about his thoughts during a press conference for the Fiesta Bowl on Monday. Kelly said he wasn’t trying to be evasive while avoiding questions about the possibility of jumping to the NFL after Oregon plays Kansas State on Thursday night.
“I’ve got a game to play,” Kelly said, via the Associated Press. “We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the biggest thing in my life. If I allowed other things to get into my life, then they would be distractions, but there aren’t. Our focus 100 percent is on the Fiesta Bowl. “
Kelly said that he hasn’t talked about anything having to do with his future job plans to his team in hopes of avoiding distractions, although one imagines their access to the internet and television has taken care of conveying the information for him. The only way to ensure no possibility of distraction would have been for Kelly to say there was absolutely no way he would leave Oregon for an NFL job.
He hasn’t done that, so the Ducks will just have to deal with it for a couple more days. Then they, along with the rest of us, can find out where Kelly will be coaching this year.