Ohio State football hired UCLA head coach Chip Kelly as its new offensive coordinator, the Buckeyes announced Friday evening, confirming an earlier report by 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Kelly replaces Bill O’Brien, whom OSU previously hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jan. 19. O’Brien left Friday to become Boston College’s head coach after just three weeks in Columbus.
Kelly informed UCLA that he is no longer the head coach of the Bruins during a team meeting Friday, according to Bruin Report Online. Kelly has a close connection to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day from their time together at New Hampshire, where Day was the quarterback in the early 2000s under Kelly, who served as the offensive coordinator for eight seasons. Day set career records with the Wildcats including completion percentage and touchdowns. Day later became the tight ends coach at New Hampshire while Kelly was still the offensive coordinator in 2002.
The future of the Kelly era at UCLA was cloudy following his interview with the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday for the vacant offensive coordinator position. Things were touch and go for Kelly down the stretch last season after reports indicated he was on the verge of being fired. The UCLA administration said publicly those reports were premature and it generally looked like his job was safe, at the time, after the Bruins beat USC in the rivalry matchup.
Since then, Kelly’s been linked to various NFL vacancies this cycle, a sign things were fading for him in Los Angeles. He was 35-34 in six seasons with the Bruins.
Earlier this offseason, Kelly reportedly interviewed twice for the Las Vegas Raiders’ open OC job. In addition to the Raiders, Kelly’s name was also linked to the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator position by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN prior to the franchise hiring USC offensive analyst Kliff Kingsbury.
Kelly got his first power conference coaching position as the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2007. He became the head coach of the Ducks two years later before leading Oregon to the BCS National Championship Game at the end of the 2010 season. During his time in Eugene, the Ducks were known for their high-octane offense, which emphasized speed and athleticism.
Kelly made the jump to the NFL in 2013 when he became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, leading the franchise to an NFC East Division title in his first year. He was fired after three seasons with a 26-21 record and later hired by the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. Kelly was fired at the end of the season after posting a 2-14 record.
Kelly returned to college football in 2018 as the head coach at UCLA, reaching a bowl game the past three seasons.
JOIN: Get 75% off your first year of VIP UCLA scoop!
Where does UCLA go from here? BruinReportOnline has the list of candidates to keep an eye on for this opening.
Brad Crawford contributed to this report.
