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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Dec 29, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema questions the ref on a call during the fourth quarter of the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. The Hokies win the Belk Bowl 35-24 over the Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema questions the ref on a call during the fourth quarter of the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. The Hokies win the Belk Bowl 35-24 over the Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /

While he has never coached in the Southeastern United States before, Kelly has to consider the Arkansas Razorbacks job should it open in 2018. Current Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema might be on the hottest seat of all in the Power 5.

With the way his Arkansas team choked away the Belk Bowl to the Virginia Tech Hokies, it wouldn’t be the most shocking thing in the world for the university to fire Bielema and hire Kelly immediately. This is the same SEC school that hired away Bobby Petrino from the Atlanta Falcons back in December 2007.

Kelly could go into Fayetteville and be one of the best coaches in the SEC instantaneously. He’d get to challenge Nick Saban annually in the SEC West and could build an up-tempo offense in the SEC that would make Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers team look like it is treading molasses going upstream.

Arkansas is not a blue-blood because of a lack of in-state talent. However, the Arkansas job is a solid second-tier program that can be a national power with the right head coach in place. Kelly would make Arkansas a 10-win team annually in the SEC West and therefore College Football Playoff caliber. It’s a great fit for him schematically, but maybe not so much culturally. The SEC is a different animal and the Ozark State is not the Pacific Northwest.