Chip Kelly reacts to assistant Jeff Faris landing Austin Peay job

Chip Kelly was very happy tight ends coach Jeff Faris received the Austin Peay head coaching gig. While Faris won’t be in LA anymore, Kelly thought the program couldn’t get a better coach.

Faris is a former offensive coordinator at Duke so this isn’t quite his first rodeo. After multiple stops it was time for him to take the plunge and run a program.

Kelly raved about his now-former assistant.

“Faris is awesome,” Kelly said. “And I was so excited for him and Natalie and … they just had twins in the summertime. He’s an amazing coach. It’s an opportunity for him to get his first head coaching job at the FCS level and Austin Peay. He was recruiting with me, I was with him for two or three days last week recruiting and then he went down to see them I think, on Thursday, and they were impressed with him, which anybody would be.” 

Kelly also noted it’s much closer to Faris’ hometown, being a Tennessee native.

“And it’s close to home, so he’s from Tennessee, and his wife is from Tennessee,” Kelly said. “So there’s a little bit of getting home for him. And his chance to be a coach I think first is going to be a great culture. We were fired up and excited for him. 

“I know all the tight ends were because he came back and met with him before he left and then I followed up after he met with them and they were all just genuinely happy for him. Talked a little bit about the relationship that he has with his players. Everybody’s just excited for Jeff and Natalie.”

Faris spent one season at UCLA under Kelly and coached at Duke from 2012-21 in a variety of roles.

Faris coached offense throughout his time at Duke and UCLA, including being the tight ends coach last season. He played for the Blue Devils from 2008-11 as a reserve safety before becoming a grad assistant in 2012.

He ended up as the wide receiver’s coach from 2014-16 and added offensive recruiting duties from 2017-20. Faris also became the tight ends coach in 2018 at Duke and eventually the co-offensive coordinator at quarterbacks coach in 2021.

With Faris gone, it continued some staff changes under Kelly. Kelly will remain the head coach at UCLA in 2024 despite rumblings of his imminent firing prior to the USC game.

With Dante Moore transferring out, Kelly will have to upgrade the quarterback position once again and look to find ways to get over the hump after 7-5 regular season.