The Wildcats are making a splash hire with longtime NFL and college coach Chip Kelly.
Northwestern is making a change to its coaching staff, and the Wildcats are swinging for the fences with one of the biggest names in the sport.
Just four days after defeating Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, Northwestern is hiring longtime NFL and college football coach Chip Kelly to be its offensive coordinator. On3's Pete Nakos broke the news at 5:22 a.m. CT on Tuesday morning and Northwestern made it official three hours later with an announcement.
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Chip and his wife, Jill, to our university," head coach David Braun said via press release. "His innovative approach to offense using systems that focus on varying tempo, efficiency and smart decision-making, his track record of developing quarterbacks, and his ability to maximize talent are exactly what our program needs at this moment. I am extremely grateful for the ongoing partnership of our university, Mark Jackson and passionate supporters to make this addition happen. Make no mistake: this is a program-defining change and is reflective of our long-term commitment to the pursuit of championships."
Kelly's most recent role at the college level came last season as Ohio State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his sole year with the Buckeyes, Kelly spearheaded the No. 2 scoring offense (35.7 points per game), No. 4 total offense (429.4 yards per game) and No. 4 passing offense (263 yards per game) in the Big Ten. Ohio State won the 2025 College Football Playoff under Kelly's offense by defeating each opponent by double digits.
The Las Vegas Raiders subsequently hired Kelly to serve as their offensive coordinator, but he was fired after a 2-9 start to the season. Kelly's NFL stops have netted mixed results: he went 26-21 with a pair of 10-win seasons leading the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013 to 2015, then lasted just one year with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016.
Kelly broke into the college football scene as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012. In Eugene, Kelly's spread offense took the nation by storm, going 46-7 over four seasons while leading the Ducks to the Rose Bowl in 2009 and 2011, the BCS National Championship Game in 2010 and the Fiesta Bowl in 2012. Oregon finished as an AP top-four team in each of his last three years before Kelly was hired by the Eagles.
In 2018, Kelly returned to college football as the head coach of UCLA. The Bruins struggled in Kelly's first three years with the team before logging 8-4, 9-4 and 8-5 seasons from 2021 to 2023. Amid conference realignment and turbulence in the sport, Kelly left his head coaching job in Los Angeles for Ohio State's offensive coordinator role.
Kelly has coached a variety of notable quarterbacks during his time in college football. The now-62-year-old is known for his work with Marcus Mariota at Oregon — who later went on to win the Heisman Trophy — and coached names like Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Dante Moore at UCLA. Under Kelly, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw for over 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns last year.
This move signals a massive turning point for Northwestern football. The Wildcats ranked 94th in the FBS in scoring offense (23.4 points per game) in 2025, and the program's exceptional defensive seasons this century have largely been held back by stagnant offenses. With Kelly coming in, Athletic Director Mark Jackson has shown he is willing to shell out significant resources and investment to make a splash hire that flips Northwestern's trajectory on its head.