Chip Kelly is making a return to college football just over a month after being fired by the Las Vegas Raiders. The 62-year-old former Oregon and UCLA head coach will be the new offensive coordinator at Northwestern, according to a Tuesday morning report by ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Kelly won a national championship as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2024 and then left for the offensive coordinator job with Pete Carroll and the Raiders. That didn't go well for him, however, as Kelly was fired in November after just 11 games.
Sources: Northwestern is hiring veteran coach Chip Kelly as the school’s new offensive coordinator. He’s a two-time college (Oregon/UCLA) and NFL head coach (Philly/SF) who brings an expertise in varying systems and personnel, which was appealing to Northwestern. pic.twitter.com/sMqTqrfpau
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 30, 2025
Kelly, who has been the head coach of both the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, will now work under Northwestern head coach David Braun, who led the Wildcats to a 7-6 record this past season. Northwestern ended the year with a 34-7 win over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl last week.
Kelly replaces Zach Lujan, whose contract expired after the season. Northwestern needs a lot of help with its offense, as it finished 15th in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of just 22.5 points per game.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chip Kelly Lands New College Football Job in Big Ten After Being Fired by Raiders.
