Pac-12 News: Philadephia Eagles Reportedly Pursuing Oregon’s Chip Kelly

Nov 3, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks coach Chip Kelly and players run onto the field before the game against the Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to find a coach to succeed Andy Reid, and per a CBSSports.com report, that coach is Chip Kelly.

Kelly is going to be hot on everyone’s radar this NFL offseason, after the outstanding last four years he has put into Oregon. Plus, with NCAA sanctions looming for Oregon’s involvement with Willie Lyles , Kelly could pull a Pete Carroll and jump ship for calmer, sanction-free NFL waters right before the vessel he built up in Eugene takes a serious hit. Many NFL teams are expected to court Kelly, but experts say that Philadelphia will make the hardest push for him.

He is 45-7 as the Ducks’ head coach and has coached the Ducks to a Rose Bowl victory as well as an additional appearance in Pasadena and one in the National Championship, but has no NFL experience. In spite of that, the offensive guru appeals to NFL teams for his abilities to revamp a lifeless program, much like he has done at Oregon.

There are a few teams in the Pac-12 that could benefit from the departure of Kelly, namely Stanford, Cal, USC and UCLA.

If Kelly leaves for the NFL, Oregon could suffer a substantial blow to its current recruiting class, and could experience a downturn in their productivity. The Blur offense is a product of Kelly, so it would be interesting to see what happens to it with an entirely different coach.

There is no indication as of yet how appealing the Phildelphia job is to Kelly, as opposed to other potential opportunities. If he does take the job however, that could greatly alter the landscape of the Pac-12. The Ducks have been the team to beat in the Pac-12, dominantly rolling over opponents in the way that USC did at the beginning of their dynasty in the early 2000s. Their recent success is largely due to Kelly’s coaching, as he has been able to pull in some of the top recruits on the west coast, a feat Oregon was not doing just a few years ago. His relationship with Phil Knight has also been a huge selling point with recruits and their plethora of Nike gear has made the Ducks one of the hottest teams in the country.