The Raiders are hiring Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed Sunday.
Kelly spent last season as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and helped the team win the College Football Playoff national championship. He is expected to become the NFL’s highest paid assistant coach with a deal that averages $6 million per year.
The 61-year-old is a key addition to new coach Pete Carroll’s staff. Carroll also retained defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon.
Kelly previously coached Oregon and UCLA at the college level and the Eagles and 49ers in the NFL. He is 81-41 as a college coach and 28-35 in the NFL.
Kelly’s Oregon offenses were often some of the most productive in the country. He also recruited Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota to the Ducks.
Kelly left Oregon for Philadelphia in 2013 and went 10-6 his first two seasons in the NFL. The Eagles scored the fourth-most points in the league in 2013 and the third-most in 2014 despite their starting quarterbacks being Nick Foles, Michael Vick and Mark Sanchez.
Kelly was fired with one game left in the 2015 season after Philadelphia sunk to 6-9 under his watch. He was 2-14 his lone season with the 49ers in 2016.
Ohio State went 14-2 with Kelly calling plays last season and scored 35.7 points per game, tied for the 12th-most in the FBS. The Buckeyes averaged 36.3 points per game in their CFP wins over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame. Ohio State’s national championship was its first since 2014.
Kelly replaces Luke Getsy and Scott Turner. Getsy was fired after the Raiders’ Week 9 loss to the Bengals and Turner took over for the rest of the year.
The team finished 29th in the NFL in points last season (309) and last in rushing yards (1,357).
Kelly’s hiring is a sign the Raiders are operating differently under their new ownership structure. Owner Mark Davis has brought on several limited partners in recent months, including Tom Brady, Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor board chairman Egon Durban, Discovery Land Company founder and chairman Michael Meldman and co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management Tom Wagner.
The new group has been the driving force behind the team’s recent coaching and general manager changes. Coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco were both fired after their first season in charge in January, with Carroll and general manager John Spytek serving as their replacements.
The Raiders have been aggressive to get who they want. Kelly appeared content at Ohio State, but the team offered him a huge raise to leave. His contract with the Buckeyes called for him to be paid $2 million last year.
One of Kelly’s major tasks in his new job will be aiding the Raiders’ quarterback search. The team still has Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell under contract, but neither distinguished themselves last season.
It’s unclear whether the Raiders will be able to land a franchise-changing quarterback in the draft. The team is set to pick sixth overall, which could put the top two prospects in this year’s class — Miami (Florida’s) Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders — out of reach.
The Raiders could look at Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart in the second round, or Kelly’s former Ohio State starter Will Howard in the third round.
Howard, 23, completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions his lone season working with Kelly.
The Raiders could also try to sign a veteran quarterback on the free agent market. Options there include Sam Darnold, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, Carroll’s starting quarterback when he led the Seahawks to victory in Super Bowl 48.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at [email protected]. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
