Wild goose chases are fun. After weeks of speculation, University of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly – the hottest name in the NFL’s head coaching search bracket – is reported to be staying in college. The news comes from ESPN, who reported that “Kelly was intrigued with the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coaching job but decided he wasn’t comfortable leaving the college game.”
So, yeah. Time well spent, ESPN (and any other media outlet feeding the Kelly Hype Machine). It’s hard to fault Kelly for feeling indecisive about this – his innovative offensive system worked wonders on the college level, but that same success wasn’t guaranteed in the NFL. But Kelly’s jump seems inevitable. At some point – maybe after Oregon finally wins a national championship – he has to try for a Super Bowl, right? These flirtations over the past couple of years (remember, he rejected Tampa Bay this time last year) are going to hurt his credibility not only in the eyes of NFL teams, but also amongst his players and staff at Oregon, who have to be wondering if this is going to become a yearly trend. Time will tell.