Raiders fire Chip Kelly

Life comes at you fast.

Less than a year removed from helping lead Ohio State to a national title, and just halfway into his return to the NFL as the offensive coordinator for Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders, the team has dismissed Chip Kelly.

Multiple reports shared the news Sunday night, followed up by a simple statement from first-year head coach Pete Carroll. In 14 seasons as the head coach of the Seahawks, Carroll never fired a coordinator in-season, and he's now dismissed two coordinators in the span of 17 days as special teams coordinator Tom McMahon was let go earlier this month.

The move away from Chip comes after the Raiders struggled mightily on offense yet again in a 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns, who were breaking in rookie Shadeur Sanders in for his first NFL start.

After drafting Boise State standout Ashton Jeanty in the first round, there were high hopes for Kelly's tenure calling the offense in the desert - even if he did catch some heat for immediately trying to change Jeanty's iconic stance. However, through ten games the Raiders rank second to last in the league in rushing yards per game (just 81), and are managing to throw for well under 200 yards per game as well, rating 30th overall in yards per game and dead last in points per game among NFL teams at just 15 points per contest.

Kelly was working on a three-year deal worth close to $20 million in Vegas.

The former Oregon coach, who went an incredible 46-7 with the Ducks leading one of the most exciting offenses college football has ever seen from 2009-2012, Kelly left college football after a 12-1 season in Eugene to try his hand as an NFL head coach.

After his time with Oregon, Kelly would go on to serve as an NFL head coach with the Eagles (2013-15) and 49ers (2016). He went 26-21 in Philly, where he was dismissed after a 6-9 start in his third season following back-to-back 10-6 campaigns, and in San Francisco he went 2-14 before departing.

After a year working for ESPN as a studio analyst, Kelly was hired to turn around a struggling UCLA program. He went 3-9, 4-8, and 3-4 before winning at least eight games in his final three seasons with the program, going 8-4, 9-4 and 8-5. 

When Bill O'Brien's short tenure as Ohio State's offensive coordinator came to an end to become the head coach at Boston College, and Kelly didn't get traction in attempts to return to the NFL, his experience in bowl prep having to coach the quarterbacks hands-on help to inspire his move east to Columbus, where he reunited with Ryan Day as the Buckeyes offensive coordinator.

His acumen helped Ryan Day flip the script in Columbus, and while they weren't able to beat rival Michigan in Kelly's lone year in Ann Arbor, his work with a super-talented roster helped the Buckeyes go on a run in the College Football Playoff and ultimately brought a national title back to the state of Ohio.

Time will tell if Kelly wants to jump into the college game as a head coach again, as there are set to be no shortage of opportunities if that's the case. There's already some solid open jobs on the market right now who would be smart to pick up the phone and call his agent immediately, with more all but guaranteed to open in the coming weeks, and Kelly would bring an 81-41 record to the table as a college head coach with a ton of success as an offensive trailblazer, recruiter, developer of talent, and a resume that would excite a fan base along with him, wherever his next stop is.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.