The race is on for Chip Kelly, as breakneck as his storied hurry-up offensive scheme.
Kelly will be returning to the collegiate ranks next season, and his options have dwindled to two. Kelly is debating between UCLA and Florida, according to ESPN, and is expected to choose between the two in the next few days.
According to the report, Kelly will not consider any other college vacancies.
The 53-year-old met Tuesday in Los Angeles with UCLA, who is wooing Kelly with former UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman putting a “full-court press” on Kelly, according to ESPN. The Bruins are looking to make a splash after firing Jim Mora Jr.; Jeff Fisher’s name also has been bandied about.
On Sunday, it was Florida’s turn to persuade the former Oregon icon, as some on the Gators coaching staff and athletic director Scott Stricklin flew to Kelly’s native New Hampshire to sit down with him.
Kelly was the talk of college football at Oregon, where, from 2009-12, he went 46-7 and took the Ducks to a BCS championship. His revolutionary offense, squeezing in as many plays as possible and sprinting to the line of scrimmage, put up 44.7 points per game in the span and led to NFL calls.
Kelly took the Philadelphia Eagles job in 2013 and had mixed results until 2015, when he was fired after Week 16 with the Eagles 6-9.
Kelly then latched on with San Francisco in 2016, when he went 2-14 with a talent-short roster and was let go again.
Kelly has taken this season off from coaching and now works at ESPN. He was asked about the Florida opening Sunday on “SportsCenter,” saying, “Is this your way of firing me?”
He then said whoever becomes Florida’s next coach “will be very lucky.”