Emotions are bit mixed around Raider Nation regarding the hiring of Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. On one hand, he's about as experienced as they come. On the other hand, he hasn't always been that successful.
There isn't a great pool of offensive coordinator candidates available right now so in that regard, Kelly is a solid hire. However, the bigger question mark is why they're paying him so much money.
According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Kelly is making $6 million a year with the Raiders, which makes him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.
The @Raiders told candidates during their search they were making a serious commitment with an infusion of cash from the new owners. Here it is—Chip Kelly was lured to Vegas with a deal averaging $6 million per year, per sources.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 3, 2025
Kelly is now the NFL's highest-paid coordinator.
Look, Kelly is far from the worst hire they could've made. He's light years better than Luke Getsy and probably better than Darrell Bevell, who was one of the front-runners to get the job.
However, it's hard to understand why he'd be the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL. That means he's making more than star coordinators like Steve Spagnuolo and Kliff Kingsbury.
When Kelly was calling plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as head coach, he was able to lead some top offenses for his first two years, but that was a decade ago. Ohio State's offense was good this year but it wasn't top-10 in college football despite being loaded with talent.
Kelly did do some good things in the College Football Playoffs but almost all of his experience is at the college level. Being a head coach and being an offensive coordinator are two very different things so perhaps he'll be a more consistent playcaller.
It makes sense to pay him around league average but tripling his Ohio State salary seems unnecessary. The good thing is that Kelly has ample experience developing quarterbacks and that's what the Raiders need. Here's hoping he can be one of the top playcallers in the NFL. If he is, the Raiders don't have to worry about losing him to a head coaching job.