After failing twice in the NFL, Chip Kelly is giving college football a second chance.
Kelly, the former Eagles and 49ers head coach, has been hired as the new coach at UCLA. Kelly replaces another two-time NFL failure, Jim Mora, who was fired this week.
By taking the UCLA job, Kelly returns to the Pac-12 conference, where he had a great deal of success as the head coach at Oregon. Although Kelly didn’t do well in the NFL, there’s every reason to think he can do well as the coach of the Bruins.
Kelly’s first priority will likely be trying to persuade star quarterback Josh Rosen to stay in school rather than enter the 2018 NFL draft. Kelly’s NFL experience could be appealing to Rosen, as he’ll want a coach who can help him develop for the pro game. Then again, Kelly’s NFL failures could make Rosen think he’d be better off leaving.
At the college level, Kelly was known as one of the nation’s most innovative coaches. In the NFL, his offense showed promise at first, but once opposing defensive coordinators had some time to game plan for his fast pace, he largely failed. We’ll see whether he can do it at the college level again. His days coaching in the NFL are likely done.
