Eagles coach Chip Kelly is having a rough season. USC coach Steve Sarkisian is having a rough season. It’s not a stretch to connect those dots.
And so it’s no surprise that people are already talking about the possibility of Sarkisian getting fired at the end of this season, and Kelly leaving the Eagles to take his place. An SI.com report today says that talk within USC of finding a new coach will certainly include Kelly, and that USC had strong interest in Kelly when it hired Sarkisian.
USC lost its second game of the season last night to unranked Washington, and for a team that some saw as a national championship contender, that’s not acceptable. If Sarkisian doesn’t turn things around in a hurry, he may be done. (It doesn’t help that Sarkisian has also had off-field issues, including appearing to be drunk when he addressed boosters at an event in August.) USC would look for a big-name coach to replace him.
Although Kelly is struggling this year in Philadelphia, he’s still a very big-name coach in college football. At Oregon, Kelly was widely regarded as one of the best coaches in college football, and if he decides he wants to go back to college football, he’ll have plenty of suitors.
For now, Kelly is focused on turning the Eagles around. He is, after all, only four games into his third season. But if things turn south this year and the Eagles finish in last place in the NFC East, don’t be surprised if Kelly and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie mutually decide that it’s best for everyone to move along. If that happens, USC could be Kelly’s landing spot.