Chip Kelly lands comfortably back where he belongs after Raiders' firing

Chip Kelly and Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll always felt like a strained fit, and that idea came all the way to fruition when Kelly was fired as offensive coordinator after a Week 12 loss to the Cleveland Browns. He didn't even last the entire 2025 NFL season.

If he wanted to coach next year, it was only a matter of time before Kelly landed his next job. An interview for the offensive coordinator post at Georgia Tech quickly followed rumors attaching him to the head coaching job at Kentucky before it was filled.

On Tuesday morning, however, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Kelly is set to become the new offensive coordinator at Northwestern University. The school reportedly views Kelly as "someone who could adjust to different personnel and help maximize an offense that ranked No. 96 in the country in both total offense and scoring offense".

Chip Kelly lands OC job at Northwestern after Raiders' firing

The Wildcats finished 15th in the Big Ten in points per game during the regular season (22.5), and they finished their 2025 campaign above .500 (7-6) with a 34-7 win over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl on December 26.

The school has now confirmed Kelly's hiring.

Kelly, of course, first made his name during a very successful run as the head coach at the University of Oregon, where he went 46-7 with a national title game appearance and four major bowl appearances over four seasons. The fast-paced offense he ran in Eugene was ahead of its time.

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After four years as an NFL head coach, three with the Philadelphia Eagles and one with the San Francisco 49ers, followed by a year out of coaching, Kelly became the head coach at UCLA. Over six seasons there, he had a 35-34 overall record with a 25-13 mark over his final three seasons.

Kelly then made the move to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2024, where he piloted the national title-winning Buckeyes' offense before the Raiders brought him back to the NFL this year.

Kelly was coaxed back to the professional ranks with a reported three-year, $18 million contract. Mark Davis is now presumably off the hook for at least some of the money that he owes Kelly, as Northwestern is likely offsetting some of what he would have made in Las Vegas.

And, more importantly, Kelly is back at the college level, where it has been clearly proven he can be most successful as a football coach.