Raiders fire OC Chip Kelly

Breaking into the NFL as an immediate head coach after major success at Oregon, Kelly initially found more success in Philadelphia, taking his team to the playoffs in his first year at the helm in 2013. Kelly was given control over roster decisions by owner Jeffrey Lurie, but after some questionable trades, some character complaints, and a losing record in his third season, Kelly was fired before he could finish Year 3. Several teams attempted to land him after his dismissal, and he landed in San Francisco, where he was quickly let go after a 2-14 season.

After taking a year away from coaching as a studio analyst at ESPN, Kelly took up the clipboard again to coach at UCLA for six years. Starting in 2022, Kelly started to appear on NFL radars again, and in 2024, following his final year with the Bruins, he began to emerge as an offensive coordinator candidate. He reportedly was aiming for the Raiders’ position under then-head coach Antonio Pierce, and even though he was reportedly interviewed twice, Kliff Kingsbury emerged as the favorite for that job. Kelly then emerged as a candidate for the Commanders’ job, which ultimately went to Kingsbury as Luke Getsy landed the job in Las Vegas.

Having missed out on both positions, Kelly settled back into the world of college football, replacing Bill O’Brien as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, where he coordinated the 12th-best scoring offense in the country en route to a National Championship victory over current-Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden‘s Notre Dame defense. The successful year led to more NFL attention as the Texans and Jaguars expressed early interest in Kelly, but he once again homed in on Vegas, and this time, he landed the gig, doing so as the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator.

Now under new head coach Pete Carroll and Kelly (not to mention new minority owner Tom Brady), the Raiders’ momentum seemed to be swinging in a majorly positive direction. Moves were made to improve the offensive side of the ball, starting with a trade that brought quarterback Geno Smith down from Seattle to reunite with Carroll.

Impact free agents like offensive guard Alex Cappa and running back Raheem Mostert were signed. The 2025 NFL Draft was offense-heavy, with the consensus top running back, Ashton Jeanty, coming off the board at No. 6 overall, Senior Bowl favorite wide receiver Jack Bech coming out of the second round, two offensive tackles coming out of the third, and two FCS quarterbacks hearing their names called in the sixth.

Twelve weeks into the 2025 campaign, nothing seems to have panned out. After today’s games, every team in the NFL has played 11 games, and the Raiders sit with New Orleans at the bottom of the league with a league-worst 165 points scored. Las Vegas ranks 30th in the NFL with 2,958 yards of total offense. The team has a bottom-six passing offense and a bottom-two rushing attack.

Smith is having his worst season since reestablishing himself as a starting quarterback, leading to some concerns about his ability to lead the team. While showing flashes, Jeanty’s effectiveness has been a rollercoaster throughout his rookie season, while his fellow offensive rookies have been extremely quiet. The free agent additions, Cappa and Mostert, have been non-factors, despite Cappa having spent most of his career as a full-time starter.

But the change that Las Vegas has keyed in on as the biggest factor to the lack of success appears to be the hiring of Kelly, and whether or not he was the key issue at play here, he’s become the latest victim of the Raiders’ quick decision-making. Since the dying days of general manager Reggie McKenzie and head coach Jack Del Rio, stability has been a challenge for staffers in Las Vegas.

Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock became the new established head coach and general manager, respectively, for the team’s transition to Vegas in 2019. In 2020, defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was fired midseason. Gruden resigned five games into the following year, and Mayock and both coordinators were cleaned out at the end of that season. The new head coach (Josh McDaniels), general manager (Dave Ziegler), and offensive coordinator (Mick Lombardi) for the 2022 campaign all only lasted until Halloween of the following year.

That brings us almost up to date to last year, when Pierce, Tom Telesco, and Luke Getsy took over those respective positions. Getsy didn’t even get to finish the year, getting fired after the team’s Week 9 contest last year. Under yet another new head coach (Carroll) and GM (John Spytek), Kelly lasted just three more weeks than Getsy. And all the while, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has been learning new names since 2022. The only familiar face Graham had over the past three years was special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, who was let go earlier this month.

There’s been no word yet on who will serve as an interim coordinator. Quarterbacks coach Greg Olson seems to make the most sense, considering he held the position under Gruden from 2018 to 2021. Whatever the case, if the Raiders truly hope to turn this team around in the future, establishing some stability may pay major dividends.

As for Kelly, there may still be some significant interest in his abilities as a playcaller, though the interest may take him back to the world of college football. There is sure to be opportunities for Kelly to land on his feet after briefly dipping his toe back in the NFL waters.