A coach with the last name Kelly who came from the college ranks lost his job in Philadelphia this week because the Eagles tanked this season after giving him full control of both coaching and personnel decisions.
It’s a rare combination to find in the NFL and Chip Kelly’s performance isn’t likely to make other teams rush to change that any time soon. For another coach with the same last name in the college ranks, an unwillingness to hand over that power is apparently enough to take away interest in moving to the professional level.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly’s name has been mentioned as a possibility for coaching vacancies in the past, but he says he’s “not curious” about how he’d do in the NFL unless he’s the man in charge of every aspect of a team.
“How would you give up control of all the things you have at Notre Dame to do that, unless they gave you full autonomy and control of an organization?” Kelly said, via the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t think that’s happening any time soon for Brian Kelly. I’m the owner, the GM, I’m the football coach. Very rarely do you have those scenarios in the NFL. ... If you’re going to make that move to the NFL, you have to understand what you’re getting into.”
If the lack of total control is a deal breaker for Kelly, he’ll remain in college unless the owner of a team is convinced that Kelly and only Kelly can fix their franchise. That may not be impossible, but his namesake’s experience in Philly doesn’t make it seem like a good bet.