Could Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator position be close to being filled?
According to On3 Sports Pete Nakos, Georgia Tech has interviewed longtime football coach Chip Kelly for its offensive coordinator position.
Proven coach
Kelly rose to prominence when he was the head coach at Oregon, revolutionizing their offense and bringing about a new wave of offenses in college football. He was regarded as one of, if not the top offensive minds in the sport. He took the Ducks to the national championship game in 2010. Before he left for the Philadelphia Eagles head coaching job, Kelly had a 46-7 career record.
Kelly was the Eagles head coach from 2013-2015 and then was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers for the 2016 season. After taking a year off, Kelly returned to college, becoming the head coach of UCLA in 2018. Kelly’s tenure did not start off well, as he missed a bowl game in his first three seasons, but he got things turned around and finished with three straight seasons of at least eight wins. Kelly left UCLA to be the offensive coordinator for Ohio State after the 2023 season and his final record at UCLA was 35-34.
Kelly was a fantastic offensive coordinator for Ohio State last season, helping lead the Buckeyes to the national championship and calling plays for the most talented offense in the country. After spending only one season in Columbus, Kelly left to become the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was fired after a 2-9 start to the season.
Does it make sense for Georgia Tech?
There are some positives to Kelly as an offensive coordinator, but not without their questions as well.
Under Brent Key, Georgia Tech wants to have a physical identity by running the football and having a strong offensive line. Kelly is one of the best run game architects in the entire sport and is still a very good play caller at the collegiate level. Yes, Georgia Tech does not have the level of talent that Ohio State does, but Kelly is still a creative mind and brings plenty of head coaching experience from both levels, which is a plus.
The potential negatives are that Kelly is not regarded as a strong recruiter, which has been a label he has carried since his days at Oregon. Key wants to build his program with strong high school recruiting and Kelly is not exactly a plus in that regard, though coordinators don’t exactly recruit as much as they used to.
Kelly also is coming off a very poor tenure as the Raiders OC. Was that just a by-product of him not being a good enough OC for the NFL or a bad sign
This could just be one interview, but it does seem as if Kelly has some momentum. Stay tuned for more updates.
More Georgia Tech News:
Report: Georgia Tech Interviews Chip Kelly For Offensive Coordinator Position
