Former Seattle Seahawks-turned-Raiders head coach Pete Carroll is wasting little time making waves in his return to the NFL. As a noted defensive coach, Carroll obviously needed an offensive coordinator. However, Carroll decided to make a drastically different decision when everyone assumed he might be trying to get the old Seahawks coaching staff back together. Over the weekend it was announced Carroll was hiring Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to lead the Raiders in the same capacity.
The former Pac-10 and NFC West rivals are reuniting in Sin City, as Kelly will make his return to the NFL for the first time since the 2016 season.
Raiders hiring Chip Kelly as new offensive coordinator. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/yklEQ3Ln2a
— NFL (@NFL) February 2, 2025
It has been a remarkable coaching journey for Chip over the years. Fans in the Pacific Northwest will surely always remember him for turning the Oregon Ducks into a national powerhouse, defined by his revolutionary no-huddle offense which left defenses gassed every Saturday. He made the jump into the NFL to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach from 2013-2015.
After leading the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season, Kelly was let go before his final year in the City of Brotherly Love concluded. From there, Kelly was hired to be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In his lone season by the Bay, Kelly’s Niners went 2-14. Ironically, the last game Kelly coached in the NFL was a 25-23 loss to the Seahawks under… Pete Carroll.
Kelly returned to the NFL as the head coach of UCLA where he was at from 2018-2023 before ultimately leaving the Bruins to become the offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Kelly’s offense became an unstoppable force in the first ever expanded college football playoff, as the Buckeyes claimed a National Championship.
Now, he returns to the league, eager to prove (alongside Carroll) he still has plenty to bring to the table at the professional level.
