Northwestern hires Kelly as offensive coordinator
Northwestern is hiring Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, the school announced Tuesday.
Kelly returns to college football after a one-year stint as the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive coordinator. The Raiders fired him in late November after 11 games, a stretch where his offense ranked 30th in success rate and last in EPA/play, according to Ben Baldwin's database.
The 62-year-old won the national championship as Ohio State's OC in 2024 before joining Las Vegas. The Buckeyes ranked 14th in points per contest in college football that season, and they scored 34 points against Notre Dame in the title game.
Kelly was head coach at UCLA from 2018-23 on the heels of a four-year run as an NFL head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. He rose through the ranks after running a high-tempo offense at Oregon from 2007-08 and was promoted to helm the Ducks in 2009, spending four years in that position before taking the Eagles job.
David Braun, who's been the head coach at Northwestern since 2023, led the Wildcats to a 7-6 record this season and is coming off a 34-7 victory over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Kelly will replace Zach Lujan, whose contract is set to expire, reports ESPN's Pete Thamel. Northwestern averaged 22.5 points per game in 2025, good for 15th in the Big Ten.
Braun holds a 19-19 record as head coach at Northwestern, including a 2-0 mark in bowl games.