Chip Kelly reportedly meeting with Bill Belichick after being passed on by Jaguars
Could the ex-49ers coach be headed for New England?
By
John Breech
•
1 min read
After being rebuffed by the Jaguars for their offensive coordinator job this week, Chip Kelly decided to get over it by scheduling a meeting with an old friend.
According to ESPN.com, Kelly was headed to New England to meet with Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Although it's unclear if Belichick will offer Kelly a job, it wouldn't be completely shocking if that happened.
For one, Kelly has made it clear that he's not looking for any type of college coaching job and that he wants to remain in the NFL. After being fired by the 49ers, Kelly told Fox Sports that he would be willing to take an offensive coordinator job if that's what it was going to take to remain in the NFL.
With most of the jobs filling up -- including the Jaguars' job, which went to Nathaniel Hackett -- Kelly could be hoping to land any type of spot on Belichick's staff. The two coaches have known each other for over a decade, with Belichick saying in November that he's known Kelly since back in the days when Kelly was an assistant at the University of New Hampshire.
In that same November interview, Belichick admitted that the Patriots have used some things that he picked up from Kelly.
"He had some great ideas that we've incorporated into things that we're doing on a number of different levels," Belichick said at the time. "Some are Xs and Os but I would say less that and more other things involved in the program."
Belichick reportedly invited Kelly to New England after he was fired by the Eagles, but Kelly declined the invite because he was hoping to get another head coaching job.
This time around, the match could make sense. If Belichick is worried about losing Josh McDaniels to a head coaching job in 2018, he could hire Kelly this season and keep him on staff as a possible replacement.
Of course, Belichick might just be meeting Kelly to pick his brain about things that might work in the AFC title game or in Super Bowl LI if the Patriots should make it that far.
