Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the process of finalizing a deal that would make him the team’s new head coach, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday. @@http://www.tampabay.com/sports/article1211857.ece@@
Per the report, Kelly had a meeting with the Buccaneers earlier this week and, barring any setbacks, a deal is expected sometime in the next 24-48 hours. ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter seconded that timetable, and Portland’s KGW was the first to report the potential deal. @@http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7491324/sources-tampa-bay-buccaneers-talks-hire-chip-kelly-oregon-ducks-coach@@ @@http://www.kgw.com/sports/UO-coach-Kelly-talking-to-Bucaneers-137862123.html@@
In his three years as Oregon’s head football coach Kelly took the program to three straight BCS Bowls and its first Rose Bowl victory since 1917. The Ducks played for a national championship against Auburn in Kelly’s sophomore season and he kicked off his head coaching career in-style by taking Oregon to the Rose Bowl back in 2009.
Though brief, Kelly’s Oregon career will likely be remembered as one of the best in Oregon history. His overall record of 34-6 amounted to a .846 winning percentage, the highest in school history, and no Pac-12 coach has ever had a higher conference winning percentage (.944). Named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in each of his first two seasons, Kelly also earned five national Coach of the Year awards in 2010: the American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Eddie Robinson, Sporting News and Walter Camp. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3376&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=803271&Q_SEASON=2011@@
According to his contract, Kelly was due to make $3 million in 2012, and the Buccaneers would be required to pay a $3.5 million buyout in Kelly’s contract to secure his services.
Should Kelly indeed depart for the NFL, The Register-Guard’s Adam Jude reported that Boise State head coach Chris Petersen would be Oregon’s primary target as a replacement. TCU’s Gary Patterson has also been mentioned. @@http://www2.registerguard.com/cms/index.php/duck-football/comments/report-chip-kelly-close-to-deal-with-tampa-bay-bucs/@@