Report: Chip Kelly to Replace Bill O’Brien as Ohio State OC, Informs UCLA of Exit

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Former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is expected to be named the offensive coordinator for Ohio State, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.

Kelly spent the past six seasons with the Bruins before succeeding Bill O’Brien as the offensive coordinator on Ryan Day’s staff. He previously served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles as well as the San Francisco 49ers. Kelly informed the Bruins on Friday that that he planned to leave for a new job, per Matt Zenitz of 247Sports.

The two have history together, as the current Buckeyes head coach was a member of Kelly’s staff in each of his two NFL head coaching stops. Day served as the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles in 2015 and the 49ers in 2016 before heading to Columbus the following year.

Kelly was also considered for the Seattle Seahawks’ vacancy at offensive coordinator, interviewing with the team about potentially joining new head coach Mike Macdonald’s staff on Tuesday (via Benjamin Solak of The Ringer). It appears that he’ll now be heading to the Big Ten instead, though.

Despite Kelly’s tenure with UCLA getting off to a rough start, going 7-17 in his first two years with the program, the team gradually improved as he established himself as one of the most innovate offensive coaches in the sport once again. The Bruins owned one of the country’s top scoring offenses in 2022 and went 8-5 in 2023 despite having multiple quarterbacks start throughout the season.

UCLA won bowl games in each of those years, including a dominant 35-22 victory over Boise State in the 2023 LA Bowl.

He’ll be taking over a Buckeyes offense that previously averaged a commendable 30.5 points per game, although the team will be losing Biletnikoff Award-winner Marvin Harrison Jr. to the 2024 NFL draft.