Chip Kelly only lasted 11 games with the Raiders, but it sounds like he might have a head coaching job waiting for him in the SEC.
According to NBC Sports’ Mike Florio, the University of Kentucky has been linked to Kelly and the players at Kentucky believe he might be their next head coach.
“The Raiders may be saving some of the money that would otherwise go to pay former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s buyout,” Florio reported on Sunday.
“Word is circulating among Kentucky players that Kelly could be the team’s next head coach. That doesn’t mean he will be. It doesn’t even mean he’s an official candidate. It means only that Kentucky players have somehow developed the impression that Kelly could be the new coach.”
According to Las Vegas Review-Journal insider Vinny Bonsignore, Kelly signed a three-year deal with the Raiders in February and was the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL until last week.
“Chip Kelly [was] just 11 games into a three-year contract that was paying him $6 million a year. That’s the highest paid salary for an assistant coach,” Bonsignore said on the Vegas Nation First and 10 podcast this week.
As some have pointed out, Kelly’s offense seems to be a better fit at the collegiate level, so Kentucky might be the big winner (along with the rest of the AFC West) in the Raiders’ lost season of 2025.
x: @raidersbeat