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Ryan Day reacts to Chip Kelly leaving for NFL, what 2024 reunion meant to him

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•02/02/25•

ChandlerVessels

chip kelly ryan day
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chip Kelly might have spent only one season at Ohio State, but it was a special one for Ryan Day. The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship for the first time in a decade this past year with Kelly as offensive coordinator.

It was reported Sunday that Kelly is leaving to join Pete Carroll and become the offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders. Day, Ohio State’s head coach, reacted to the loss and what Kelly meant to the success of the program this past season in an interview with Joel Klatt of FOX Sports, which you can view below.

“That was great,” Day said of the chance to work with Kelly again. “We talked about the fact that we had a really good group here and the dream would be to win a national championship and then he would have an opportunity to decide whether he wants to stay or go to the NFL. That’s exactly what happened.

“To be able to have a beer in a few years and talk about the year that we had together is gonna be special. Because we all started together and this is where I started with him and we went and did that. What a great story. I know so many people back home in New Hampshire are excited for him and for the story. It’s pretty special.”

Day’s first college coaching job was in 2002 as the tight ends coach at New Hampshire, where Kelly happened to be offensive coordinator at the time. The pair later reunited in 2016 when Kelly was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and hired Day as his quarterbacks coach.

Chip Kelly left his job as the head coach at UCLA this past offseason to join Ryan Day with the goal of chasing a championship in Columbus. They accomplished that in part because of the job Kelly did with the offense, and he’s now ready to move on to a new chapter of his career.

He has previous experience in the NFL, though his previous stint probably didn’t quite end how he would have hoped. Kelly first entered the NFL ranks fresh off a highly successful period as the Oregon offensive coordinator and then head coach. He took the Philadelphia Eagles job in 2013.

He spent three years in Philadelphia, going 10-6 in each of his first two seasons. However, despite winning the NFC East in his first season, the Eagles lost in the NFC Wild Card Game to the New Orleans Saints. Chip Kelly’s Eagles did not make the playoffs in Year 2, then struggled to a 6-9 finish in Year 3. Kelly was fired.

Following that first foray into the NFL, Chip Kelly got a second shot with the San Francisco 49ers. He would last just one season, going 2-14 with the 49ers.