Chip Kelly lands new offensive coordinator job

Chip Kelly was unable to make it through a full season as the offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, but the veteran coach has already landed a new job.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Tuesday that Kelly has been hired as the new offensive coordinator at Northwestern. Kelly will replace current Northwestern OC Zach Lujan, whose contract is set to expire.

Northwestern averaged 22.5 points per game during the regular season this year, which ranked 15th out of 18 Big Ten teams. Thamel notes that the Wildcats ranked 96th in the nation this season in total offense and scoring offense, and they are hoping Kelly can help turn things around for them on that side of the ball.

Chip Kelly has extensive experience

Kelly was fired by the Raiders in November amid what has been a disastrous first season for head coach Pete Carroll. Northwestern was not concerned about that, however, and you can understand why.

Kelly is widely viewed as one of football's best offensive minds. He helped lead Ohio State to a national championship last year as the Buckeyes' OC and primary offensive play-caller. Prior to that, Kelly had stints as a head coach both in college and the NFL. The 62-year-old had a successful run as the head coach at Oregon from 2009-12. He then went on to coach the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers before spending several seasons as the head coach at UCLA.

Northwestern just finished its third season under 40-year-old head coach David Braun. The Wildcats went 7-6 and capped off their year with a 34-7 win over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.