Sources: Kelly leaving Ohio St. to be Raiders’ OC​on February 2, 2025 at 11:49 pm

HENDERSON, Nev. — Chip Kelly is returning to the NFL to become the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offensive coordinator under new head coach Pete Carroll, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel on Sunday.

Kelly, 61, spent the past seven years in college football, including last season as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for national champion Ohio State, which averaged 35.7 points in going 14-2, including a 34-23 defeat of Notre Dame for the national title.

Previously, Kelly was head coach at UCLA for six seasons, going 35-34 with the Bruins.

Kelly last coached in the NFL in 2016, when he was the San Francisco 49ers head coach for one season, with the Niners going 2-14.

He had also been head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-15 and went 26-21 with one playoff appearance.

The addition of Kelly completes the coordinator staff for Carroll, who retained defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon.

Carroll said he was hoping for a “combination” of coaches to fill out his staff when he was introduced last Monday.

“I’m really looking for people that have been with me, that understand the philosophy to some extent,” Carroll said at the time. “I [also] want guys that have never been around me before so they have to learn what we’re all about and we can watch the process of them learning what we’re all about and what we expect. And then I’m hoping that we can maintain some of the terrific coaches that are on the staff, too, so we can have the benefit of the insights that they bring and the continuity that they can generate for us.

“We want ball people. We want guys that love the game…also, it’s important to find people that can help us grow and challenge us and — I know in my history — I need people to keep me on track. As you can tell, I get pretty juiced up and I’m going to get going. I need people to keep me balanced.”

Carroll, as coach of the Seattle Seahawks, went 3-0 in head-to-head matchups against Kelly’s Eagles and Niners teams.

They met once in college, Kelly’s Oregon Ducks beating Carroll’s USC Trojans in 2009. Kelly went 46-7 over four seasons at Oregon, which included an appearance in the national title game, two Rose Bowl appearances and a Fiesta Bowl win.

Kelly becomes the third key assistant to leave the Buckeyes this offseason. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left Ohio State for the same role with Penn State and offensive line coach Justin Frye left for the same role with the Arizona Cardinals.

Carroll, meanwhile, is returning to the NFL after a one-year hiatus. The former Seahawks, New England Patriots and New York Jets head coach was hired in January to replace Antonio Pierce, who was fired following a 4-13 season.

In Las Vegas, Kelly will find a first-team All-Pro tight end in Brock Bowers, who was the No. 7 pick of the 2024 draft, and a receiver who just recorded his first career 1,000-yard receiving season in Jakobi Meyers.

The Raiders, though, have needs at running back and quarterback and hold the No. 6 overall draft pick, as well as an extra third-round draft pick from the Davante Adams trade to the New York Jets and more than $108 million in salary cap space as well as a new general manager in John Spytek.

Kelly has long been regarded as a gifted playcaller, having served as a longtime offensive coordinator and innovator at New Hampshire and Oregon. As Kelly moved on to become the head coach at Oregon (2009-12) and then in the NFL, he remained the play-caller, and along the way his offenses shifted from breakneck tempo to a more deliberate NFL style.

Wanting to be more football-focused and not have his time occupied by the myriad off-field responsibilities of a college head coach, Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State last year.

Kelly finished with a flourish as the Buckeyes averaged 36.3 points per game in the College Football Playoff in four games against Top 10 teams. His play-calling salvo came in the title game, when the Buckeyes called a go-route to freshman Jeremiah Smith on a third-and-11 late in the game that essentially sealed the game for Ohio State. The play hit for 56 yards and will be long remembered in Ohio State history.

Kelly’s arrival came at a pivotal time for Ohio State as head coach Ryan Day played for Kelly in college at New Hampshire and the two are close friends. Day give up offensive play-calling and become more ingrained in the macro day-to-day running of the program.

Early in his career, Kelly had one of the most successful and transformative runs of a college coach this generation. His Oregon teams utilized a devastating tempo, that led to a cutting-edge strategic advantage that defined his time there.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.