Last night, ESPN reported that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were close to hiring Oregon Ducks coach Chip Kelly and were apparently in the process of finalizing a deal. However, Chip has decided to decline their offer after being deep in the negotiating process with Tampa.
“His heart is with college football and Oregon and he’s no longer being considered,” Mark Dominik said Monday, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
It’s no surprise that Chip said his heart is with Oregon, because it seems like he genuinely loves coaching the Ducks. He is, however, intrigued by the challenges of the NFL and the fact that he won’t have to deal with parents and the constant presence of the NCAA when coaching in the NFL.
It never seemed like Chip Kelly was going to leave Oregon, and he will most likely continue to coach in Eugene. The apparent interest from the Indianapolis Colts seems mild at best at this point, if the source was even right in the first place. Ducks fans can rejoice, because Chip is still in Eugene. There is almost no chance of him leaving, so it looks like he will continue to try and bring top safety recruit Shaq Thompson to the Ducks.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Chip may not have been the right fit for the Bucs. The team is trying to get a more experienced coach after unsuccessfully going young with Raheem Morris. Former Bucs coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden endorse Kelly, but the Bucs need a defensive-minded coach who can teach their team how to tackle to try and make up for the severe lack of talent in the back seven. Chip is a great college coach and would have been a successful NFL coach, but the Bucs are better off hiring Mike Zimmer at this point.
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