Northwestern is hiring veteran coach Chip Kelly as the school’s new offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN.
Kelly is a two-time college head coach, with Oregon and UCLA, and NFL head coach, with Philadelphia and San Francisco, who brings an expertise in varying systems and personnel, which was appealing to Northwestern.
Kelly won a national title as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2024. He worked as New Hampshire’s offensive coordinator (1999-2006), Oregon’s offensive coordinator (2007-08) and has an extensive history as a playcaller and head coach.
He spent last season with the Las Vegas Raiders as an offensive coordinator, which ended when he was fired Nov. 23 after a 2-9 start.
More than a month later, he lands at Northwestern. The school will open the new Ryan Field next year with a playcaller who has thrived in the Big Ten at Ohio State and in the Pac-12 at UCLA and Oregon, before both schools moved to the Big Ten.
Northwestern finished No. 15 in the Big Ten in points per game in the regular season (22.5).
Kelly will replace current coordinator Zach Lujan, who has a contract that expires soon after the season. He joins David Braun, who has two bowl wins in three seasons at the school, as Northwestern blew out Central Michigan 34-7 in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
The school viewed Kelly, per sources, as someone who could adjust to different personnel and help maximize an offense that ranked No. 96 in the country in both total offense and scoring offense.
Kelly had great success at Ohio State in 2024, culminating with Ohio State’s aggressive finishing playcall against Notre Dame. The Buckeyes sealed the game with a go-ball call to Jeremiah Smith on third-and-11, as he caught a 56-yard pass with less than three minutes remaining to set up a field goal in the 34-23 win.
Ohio State finished 2024 with the country’s No. 14 scoring offense. Kelly’s offenses at Northwestern would project to have a vibe more like his offenses at UCLA, as his 2023 team finished No. 17 nationally in rush offense and his 2022 team averaged a school-record 503.6 yards per game. The 2021 and 2020 Bruins led the Pac-12 in scoring.
Those UCLA teams used the portal well to bring in veteran players and control the game on the ground. They won 25 total games during Kelly’s final three seasons.
Kelly won at Oregon as the coordinator and head coach with an aggressive tempo that helped change the sport, but that style doesn’t appear likely to be replicated at Northwestern.
The hire comes at a time when Northwestern is opening its new state-of-the-art Ryan Field, a project estimated to cost $850 million.