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Chip Kelly helping out at Navy football practice

Chip Kelly

San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly talks with referee Pete Morelli during the second half of an NFL football game between the 49ers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

AP

Chip Kelly has long been an admirer of the U.S. Navy. When he coached at Oregon he modeled some of his offseason program on Navy SEALs workout routines, and when the Eagles hired him he hired a Navy SEALs trainer to serve as Philadelphia’s sports science coordinator. Kelly has attended Navy games while he was an NFL head coach, and there was even talk that he might be interested in coaching Navy.

So it should come as no surprise that now that Kelly is unemployed, he’s working at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Navy Athletics confirmed on Monday that Kelly is spending this week helping out at Navy’s spring practices. There’s no word on his official role, but a coach who had the kind of success Kelly had at Oregon would certainly be welcomed at any college where he wanted to help out.

Kelly has been fired in each of the last two offseasons, first by the Eagles and then by the 49ers, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of interest in his services once he hit the job market. But if he’s interested in working at a service academy, perhaps there’s a place for him on Ken Niumatalolo’s staff.