Chip Kelly Possibly Coaching Tennessee Titans
Chip Kelly has been fired by the Philadelphia Eagles, and he could be headed to the Tennessee Titans to reunite with Oregon Ducks star Marcus Mariota, according to NBC Sports.
After three seasons together, the Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly announced their divorce on Tuesday afternoon. Things simply did not work, and both sides needed to move on.
Even before the divorce officially took place, there were rumors floating around about Chip Kelly and the Tennessee Titans, mainly because Marcus Mariota is the quarterback there. A widespread belief is that Chip Kelly failed with the Philadelphia Eagles because he never had a quarterback as good as Marcus Mariota, whom he coached with the Oregon Ducks.
Now that Chip Kelly has been released by the Philadelphia Eagles, he will definitely appear on the radar of the Tennessee Titans, who need to find a replacement for Ken Whisenhunt.
Even though he was thrown into a very tough situation, Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey is unlikely to get the job because of the 2-6 record that he currently has. After their regular season finale against the Indianapolis Colts this upcoming Sunday, the Tennessee Titans are expected to announce that they are searching for a new head coach.
Whenever an NFL franchise needs to reinvigorate a disenchanted fan base, they usually make a big splash by hiring a big-name head coach. Chip Kelly fits the bill as he is a big name.
A big mistake made by the Philadelphia Eagles was giving complete control of personnel to Chip Kelly, as that took away a lot of his focus from being a coach on the field, his specialty. Knowing that his reputation has taken a hit because of his failures as a personnel man, Chip Kelly is already telling people that he does not want that again. He only wants to coach.
An interesting scenario is shaping up with the Tennessee Titans, as general manager Ruston Webster has an expiring contract, according to ESPN. Titans might be looking elsewhere. Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk has become a lot more hands-on as of late, and she does not appear to be all that impressed with Ruston Webster as a general manager.
Amy Adams Strunk can make the Tennessee Titans head coaching position a bit more appealing to potential candidates by telling them that they can control the personnel as well.
Regardless of how much power Chip Kelly is given by the Tennessee Titans, he will need to build his offensive scheme around Marcus Mariota, who is now the face of the franchise. One of the big concerns for the Tennessee Titans about hiring Chip Kelly is that his offensive system might leave Marcus Mariota prone to sacks. They really want to prevent an injury. In his defense, the offensive system utilized by the Philadelphia Eagles did not leave Sam Bradford, who had two torn ACL injuries with the St. Louis Rams, too vulnerable to sacks.
The Philadelphia Eagles were in the middle of the pack when it comes to giving up sacks, so Chip Kelly can use that to convince the Tennessee Titans to give him a chance.
A reunion between Chip Kelly and Marcus Mariota would be entertaining.
[Featured Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images]
