If Mario Cristobal leaves for Miami, Chip Kelly may return to Oregon

If Mario Cristobal is to leave Oregon for Miami, will the Ducks set their eyes on their former head coach to replace him?

If you believed that the college football coaching carousel could not get any crazier, the Miami Hurricanes have entered the fray. With the Manny Diaz era nearing its end, Miami is reportedly making a big run at Oregon’s Mario Cristobal to return to the school he played offensive lineman for to be their head coach. But, the Ducks are prepared to make an aggressive offer to keep Cristobal.

But what are the Ducks to do if the Cristobal ultimately leaves for Miami?

Oregonian columnist John Canzano said on Saturday that he expects former head coach and current sidelines boss for the UCLA Bruins, Chip Kelly, to be a target for the Ducks.

Oregon to target Chip Kelly if they lose Mario Cristobal to Miami?

Kelly joined Oregon back in 2007 as the team’s offensive coordinator under then-head coach Mike Bellotti. Two years later, he was promoted to sideline boss and had nothing but success during his four years at the helm. Kelly coached the Ducks to the Rose Bowl in his first year and the BCS Championship Game the season after.

Overall, Kelly held a 46-7 record in his four years at Eugene before departing to the NFL to take over for Andy Reid as Philadelphia Eagles head coach.

Following his stints with the Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, Kelly returned to the college game in 2018 as Bruins head coach. After three losing seasons, Kelly and UCLA hold a 8-4 record in 2021.

College football has already seen Lincoln Riley leave Oklahoma for USC and Brian Kelly jump ship from Notre Dame to LSU this week alone. Could we see Cristobal leave for Miami and Kelly return to Oregon? At this rate, we can not rule anything out.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.