Not too long ago the Ohio State Buckeyes were hoisting a national championship trophy, with two of the hottest coaching names in football in offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles playing a massive role. Now less than a year later after both chose to leave Columbus, Kelly is out of a job and Knowles' defense has been a major factor in one of the most surprising disappointments in college football at Penn State.
Chip Kelly returned to the NFL this season as the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders under new head coach Pete Carroll. Now, after just 11 games, he’s been fired despite being made the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the league going into the season.
Sitting at 2–9 with an offense that ranked last in points and third-to-last in yards per game, the Raiders decided to move on, making it another disappointing stint for Chip Kelly in the pros. On paper, the situation Kelly was going into really didn’t look bad with a veteran quarterback in Geno Smith along with young talents like Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. However, things were anything but good for Kelly’s offense in Vegas.
If the longtime and highly successful college coach wants to continue coaching, he will likely have plenty of options back at the college level. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see a reunion in Columbus, especially with how hot current Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline’s name has been in the coaching carousel.
On the other hand, Knowles’ departure from Columbus was more negative and rubbed many Buckeye fans the wrong way after he left for the same position at Big Ten rival Penn State. Similar to Kelly, Knowles’ move included becoming the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football, something he has certainly not lived up to this season. Things hit a low point in Week 6, when the Nittany Lions defense gave up 42 points and 435 yards to a UCLA offense that had looked terrible up to that point and was led by a first-time offensive coordinator. To their credit, both Penn State and Knowles’ defense have shown improvement in recent weeks, but overall the unit has fallen well short of expectations for the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football history.
In addition, the coach who hired him, James Franklin, is no longer in Happy Valley and with uncertainty surrounding who the next head coach will be, Knowles’ future is very much up in the air. He could easily also find himself searching for another job this offseason, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that a reunion in Columbus will never happen.
This occurrence of coaching staffs and coordinators moving on to what they believe are bigger and better opportunities after winning a national championship is nothing unusual. But when you look at where Kelly and Knowles are now compared to where the Buckeyes stand with Matt Patricia and Brian Hartline stepping into their roles and arguably doing better, it’s a nice reminder that things aren’t always better elsewhere and life can be a lot easier when you’re working with a roster loaded with the kind of talent Ohio State has.