The Philadelphia Eagles will most likely fire head coach Andy Reid after this season and Oregon head coach Chip Kelly could be one of the top candidates to replace the longtime Eagles coach, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora.
According to multiple league executives, the Eagles are expected to make a “heavy push” to land Kelly at the end of the NFL season.
Kelly has been arguably one of the most successful coaches in Oregon football history as he has a 45-7 record in four seasons and led the Ducks to a national championship appearance in 2011, where they fell to Cam Newton and Auburn.
Kelly may ultimately decide to leave Oregon as NCAA sanctions loom over the football program because of their use of a recruiting service.
The threat of sanctions as well as the prestige of the Eagles’ coaching position could be enough to pry Kelly away from Oregon.
Kelly previously flirted with the NFL as he reportedly had a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January, before backing out of the job.
The Eagles look as if they are head in a dramatically different direction with the impending firing of head coach Andy Reid and the expected severance of their ties with quarterback Michael Vick after this season.
However, would Kelly be a good hire for the franchise? Kelly’s possible NFL success has been hotly debated, particularly with how his spread offense would translate to the NFL.
The success of Kelly’s spread offense relies on versatile athletes such as LaMichael James and De’Anthony Thomas and he would certainly have a couple in Philadelphia in wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.
In addition to the bevy of athletes on the Eagles, the Wildcat and parts of the Pistol offense have slowly begun to make their way to the NFL over the past few seasons and if Kelly were to implement the spread into the Eagles playbook, it would make the team’s offense that much more potent and possibly make the Eagles realize their vast potential on offense.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Kelly will actually make the jump to the NFL with Philadelphia, however it will be interesting to see whether this rumor becomes reality in the near future.