Chip Kelly won eight games, stomped his biggest rival and won a bowl game at UCLA last season. Still, on Friday, he determined his best career move — one of the latest to rock the sport — was to take a massive pay cut to remain in the same conference and become offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Of course, it made sense. Of course, it made no sense.
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On the same afternoon Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State — eight weeks after the season ended — Bill O’Brien left for Boston College after serving 21 days as the Buckeyes offensive coordinator. At least that was a promotion by title.
This migration by Kelly?
The 60-year-old who had spent 14 years as a college or NFL head coach took a big pay cut (from $6 million per year) to become a coordinator for the first time since 2009. He saw a better future calling plays at Ohio State than following up on the best three-year run (25 wins) by any UCLA coach since 2015. This despite the Bruins being in the process of joining the Big Ten next season.
Coaches everywhere preach loyalty. The profession might have cornered the market lately on rental properties.
Kelly’s move was unprecedented and yet not altogether surprising. He has a relationship with Ohio State coach Ryan Day, his quarterback at New Hampshire while Kelly was the offensive coordinator. Kelly remains a respected play caller who, at his base, wants to…
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