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For the 2nd year in a row Chip Kelly flirted with the NFL, but has ultimately decided to stay at Oregon Adam Schefter confirmed this evening.
Kelly interviewed with the Browns, Bills and Eagles and had narrowed his NFL options down to just Philadelphia. However, in the end, he made the decision that he was happy where he was. As we discussed earlier, Kelly already has lots of money, success & power in Eugene. Aside from maybe a new challenge, the NFL really isn't so much better than what he already has and it's 100% riskier.
Kelly is not like Doug Marrone or Jim Harbaugh, whose roots lie in the NFL. He's never had an NFL job at any level and at this point it's probably safe to assume he won't. If he hasn't taken a job these past 2 years, it seems pretty unlikely that he'll ever want to. And even if he does show interest again, it's hard to imagine many NFL teams would be interesting in going through this process with him again.
As for the Eagles, it means they lose one of their top targets, if not literally their #1 choice. We'll never know who their #1 guy was (though I bet they'll say it was whoever they hire!) but I highly doubt you fly out to Arizona and spend 9 hours with a guy if you aren't pretty interested in his services.
Kelly's decision also means it's almost certain the Eagles won't be bringing in a college coach. Their other two targets were Bill O'Brien, who opted to stay at Penn State (probably because his $18m buyout left him no choice), and Doug Marrone, who took the head job in Buffalo.
So that leaves the NFL guys and the good news is that it's a really strong group. They interviewed Mike McCoy of the Broncos today, a guy we really like, and will meet with Seahawks DC Gus Bradley sometime early this week. We all saw more proof today just how good Bradley's Seattle defense is. They have also already spoken with Mike Nolan, DC of the Falcons and former head coach of the 49ers.
The team has also sought permission to interview Jay Gruden of the Bengals... but I'd hardly put him in the "strong group" category. In addition, they will reportedly interview Bruce Arians, who is older, but has had an undeniably tremendous amount of success in this league.