Ohio State Announces Addition Of Chip Kelly As Offensive Coordinator

Just hours after Boston College announced that it had hired Ohio State offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien as head coach, Ohio State announced the hiring of UCLA head coach Chip Kelly as his replacement.

“We are extremely excited to have Chip and his wife, Jill, joining our program,” Buckeye head coach Ryan Day said in a university release. “His experience as a head coach at Oregon, UCLA and in the NFL will bring immediate value to our entire team. I am really looking forward to reconnecting with Chip, introducing him to our staff and team and chasing a championship together.

“I would also like to wish coach Bill O’Brien and his family well as he takes over at Boston College.”

Kelly spent the previous six seasons at UCLA, compiling a 35-34 record with the Bruins, including a 26-26 mark in conference play. Over the last three years in Westwood, however, 25-13 record overall and 16-11 in conference play.

Along with being OSU’s offensive coordinator, Kelly will also be the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks coach, replacing Corey Dennis, whose contract was not renewed following the season.

Kelly’s contract is for three years. Monetary details have not yet been released.

Before UCLA, Kelly spent four years in the NFL, but is best known for his time as the head coach at Oregon, where he went 46-7 overall and 33-3 in conference play.

In his second season as head coach with the Ducks in 2010, he led his team to the BCS National Championship Game, which was won by Auburn 22-19.

Kelly led his teams to a Top 4 finish in the AP poll in each of his final three years, which included a Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl win.

Ryan Day and Chip Kelly have known each other for a very long time. When Day was a quarterback at the University of New Hampshire, Kelly was his offensive coordinator. Day’s first coaching job was as the tight ends coach at UNH with Kelly in 2002.

The duo linked up again in 2015 when Day was hired to be Kelly’s quarterbacks coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. Day then followed Kelly to San Francisco in 2016 where he stayed for one year before leaving for OSU.

Ohio State still has one assistant coaching vacancy to fill, which Ryan Day expects to have completed by the middle of next week. It will likely be somewhere on the defensive side of the ball.

Buckeye Huddle will continue to have more on the addition of Chip Kelly in the coming days.

You can check out our instant reaction live show regarding the news of the hire earlier on Friday.