The Ohio State football program made one of the best hires last offseason by bringing in Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. They only hired him after Bill O'Brien, who Ryan Day had hired just a few weeks prior to Kelly coming on, bolted for Boston College's head coaching position.
Kelly took over play-calling duties from Ryan Day this season and made this offense really hard to stop. That was especially true during the College Football Playoff run. Kelly was able to bring creativity back to the offense, especially with the run game.
There were rumors that Kelly could be getting targeted by NFL teams to be their offensive coordinator. If he did go to the NFL, that would mean that the Buckeyes would have to replace both coordinators. Based on his actions in the last few days, it seems like Kelly is going to stay.
Chip Kelly looks like he's going to stay with the Ohio State football program
Kelly's actions have been indicating that he will be staying with the Ohio State Buckeyes next season. Kelly has been out on the road recruiting for each of the last few days. If he were going to the NFL, why would he still be on the road visiting some of the best offensive high school players in the country?
Ohio State has turned its attention to the 2026 recruiting class. There hasn't been much buzz about who they might get to replace Jim Knowles, which means they are most likely going to go with an internal hire of Matt Guerrieri. That has not been confirmed by anyone, though.
Kelly isn't expected to be in Columbus for an extended period of time. He is likely going to head to the NFL eventually, but this doesn't seem to be the year. Perhaps he is waiting for another couple of years before he makes the move. There's a chance he's waiting for an NFL head coaching opportunity instead of a coordinating one, as well.
Having Kelly back would be a great thing for Ohio State. They just won the national championship with his play-calling, so they would love to have that again in 2025.