With Steve Sarkisian's firing last week, the USC job is open. There will be numerous lists of candidates. And there most certainly will be rumors. Sometimes the two will create a tidy little NFL-related Venn diagram.
It should be no surprise -- as it is the case when it comes to every big-time college football job -- to hear Chip Kelly's name involved. Kelly was No. 1 on Dennis Dodd's list of 10 candidates to replace Sark here at CBSSports.com and according to Ian Rappoport of NFL.com, Kelly has "some interest" in the open job.
"Of course the Eagles coach had so much success in college," Rappoport reported Sunday. "I am told he would have some interest in the USC job. Although a source close to him points out Chip Kelly really likes to be liked and wanted so that may be driving some of his interest."
Hey, when you've got friends who will call you needy to reporters, who needs enemies, right? Kelly is always going to be on these lists for high-profile college jobs. It's totally possible his camp is floating his name too (it never hurts your job security to be wanted elsewhere) but let's put Kelly's run in the pros in focus here. He's won 22 games in less than three years at the NFL level. If he beats the Giants on Monday he'll be in first place of the NFC East. All the "tuck tail and run back to college" stuff was premature and it happened anyway. All Kelly can do is keep coaching.
Of course, success doesn't always last forever. Just ask Saints coach Sean Payton, the other man with "some interest" in the USC job, according to Rappoport.
"Sean Payton from the Saints. I am told USC does have some interest in him," Rappoport reported. "Would not be surprised if they contacted him. Payton would like to see his kids. He goes to Dallas to see his son play football every weekend. His daughter goes to school at Pepperdine so there would be some family ties. I’m also told after this year Payton is expected to consider other opportunities."
The same thing with Kelly applies here: Payton's camp may or may not be floating out rumors of team and program interest in the former Super Bowl-winning coach to prop up his already robust job market.
Payton could bounce to USC and probably do well. But there's the added pain of recruiting college kids to his plate. Plus, if he wants to see his kids, he's not getting closer to Dallas by way of California.
Seeing Payton find another gig next year would hardly be a surprise at this point, even with the Saints managing an impressive win against the Falcons on Thursday to move to 2-4. But something like the Colts or Dolphins makes more sense for Payton at this stage of his career.
