Fansided

Five potential new jobs for Chip Kelly

By John Buhler

December 11, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly looks on during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Levi
December 11, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly looks on during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Levi /
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Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly walks off the field after a NCAA football game against the Southern California Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Notre Dame 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly walks off the field after a NCAA football game against the Southern California Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Notre Dame 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

One logical place that Kelly could land in college football would be with the 2018 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame went 4-8 in 2016 under head coach Brian Kelly. This is despite having its best pro-style passer in the Kelly era in South Bend in junior DeShone Kizer.

Notre Dame is not the best college football job that it wants coaches to believe it is. The fan base has unrealistic expectations for a rural Indiana Catholic school in the College Football Playoff era. How many blue-chip prospects live in the Hoosier State?

Fortunately for Notre Dame, Kelly can recruit nationally at a very high level. He did that at Oregon with the help of booster Phil Knight of Nike fame. Notre Dame has a nationwide following and the brand sells itself on the recruiting trails. Kelly could get his players and have Notre Dame contending for national titles by 2020 if hired in 2018.

Kelly will have to wait a year to get the opportunity to lead the Irish. He’d have to wait for Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick to pull the plug on the incumbent Kelly to hire another Kelly as head coach. Notre Dame is not a job that an elite head coach can stay at for more than a handful of years before breaking the coach emotionally. Kelly is never anywhere for very long. This is a potential short-term marriage that could definitely work, or at least be interesting.