Chip Kelly has been a better NFL coach than his reputation would suggest, but there's no denying the high point of his career came at the college level.
So as rumblings about a potential return to the college game for Kelly cropped up again this week, the San Francisco 49ers coach was compelled to address the issue Thursday. Asked at a news conference if he was fully committed to staying in San Francisco, Kelly provided this response:
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"Unless the media has an opportunity for me somewhere, I’ll always explore those opportunities," he said, tongue in cheek, before adding: "But, I’m not going anywhere.”
The phrasing of the question stemmed from a CBS Sports report the day before that claimed "several coaches" expect Kelly to retreat back to the college ranks because the high-powered offense that made him a coaching superstar at Oregon hasn't translated to the NFL.
Kelly signed a four-year, $24 million deal with the 49ers less than two weeks after being fired by the Eagles before the final game of the 2015 season. There's little doubt he could top that money with a return to college, even though only Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh are making more in 2016, with Urban Meyer close behind.
With LSU already looking for a coach and Texas a definite possibility to have an opening, Kelly could be tempted by one of the elite jobs in his profession, regardless of level of competition. There's also the matter of Oregon sitting at 2-4 under Kelly's former offensive coordinator, Mark Helfrich. It would seem unlikely the Ducks would cut Helfrich loose after he went 33-8 with a national championship game appearance in his first three seasons, but stranger things have happened on the college football coaching carousel.
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Ultimately, no matter what Kelly says in public, you can bet emissaries of college football's elite will at least touch base with him following the season to gauge his interest given his 46-7 record in four years with the Ducks.
