Oregon’s Chip Kelly headed to Philadelphia Eagles

A week or so ago, it looked as if Chip Kelly was returning to Oregon for the 2013 season.

Now, according to a Tweet this morning from Chris Mortensen of ESPN he will become the coach of the Eagles:

Chip Kelly is the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to league sources. No announcement yet.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 16, 2013

It had been thought Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley would get that job. Instead, Kelly — who interviewed shortly after the Fiesta Bowl — will apparently get it, instead.

UPDATE — Here is the official announcement of Kelly’s hire from the Eagles’ web site. And here’s a story from The Oregonian.

It had been reported that Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich would ascend to the head coaching job if Kelly left, just as Mike Bellotti did when Rich Brooks left, and then when Kelly followed Bellotti. So don’t be surprised if that happens quickly.

Oregon has an overall young team and will still be regarded as one of the teams to beat in the Pac-12 — and more specifically, the Pac-12 North — next year.

But obviously the departure of Kelly will change things in Eugene, as well as potentially shake up recruiting these last few weeks. A few recruits UW is still pursuing this could most directly impact are Bellevue LB Myles Jack, who was scheduled to visit Oregon on the last weekend prior to the Feb. 6 signing day; Mead High LB/TE Danny Mattingly, who committed to Oregon in late December; and OL Nico Falah of Bellflower, Calif., who has been committed to USC but is exploring options and visited UW in December and had an in-home visit with Kelly on Monday.

It probably barely needs repeating here that Oregon has beaten UW nine straight games. Oregon’s dominance, th0ugh, really picked up the last six years when Kelly first got to Eugene as offensive coordinator, and then head coach (he took over as head coach in 2009). Oregon was 46-7 under Kelly, making it to a BCS bowl all four years, winning two. He was 12-0 against teams in the Northwest, and 33-3 in Pac-10/12 games in what by any estimation has to be regarded as one of the more amazing four-year runs in conference history. Of his three conference losses, two came to Stanford, the other against USC.

The Ducks, with Helfrich presumably at the helm, will visit UW next Oct. 12. The Eagles are not on Seattle’s schedule in 2013.

Obviously there will be a lot more on this throughout the day.

UPDATE — This has been updated since it was originally published.

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