King Believes Kelly Will Be Candidate To Replace Reid

Here’s the latest coaching buzz around the NFL. And remember, you can find all these links, notes and rumors in our special section.

SI.com’s Peter King chimes in on who he thinks could be in the mix to replace Andy Reid:

Close to the end, barring a miracle stay by Jeffrey Lurie. Could Oregon coach Chip Kelly, his national title hopes dashed, be waiting in the wings? I believe he’ll be a candidate to take the Eagles job after leaving the Bucs at the altar last year.

We’ve written about Kelly quite a bit in this space. His Oregon squad lost in overtime to Stanford Saturday night. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports that potential NCAA sanctions could push Kelly to the NFL after this season:

The NCAA has been conducting a lengthy investigation into possible payments to intermediaries with ties to recruits. And while the governing body has announced no timetable for any decisions, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, the sanctions could be severe and a decision could be coming after the season. In recent months, the NCAA has conducted interviews lasting six hours or more with “recruiting services” personnel connected to the program, and NFL executives see the situation as being similar to when Pete Carroll left USC to head to the Seahawks in 2010. Carroll bolted to Seattle with sanctions looming, and months later USC was hit with a two-year bowl ban and scholarship reductions that have plagued the program throughout Lane Kiffin’s tenure.

Meanwhile, there continues to be a growing sentiment that Jon Gruden plans on returning to the sidelines after this season. But according to La Canfora, Gruden is being targeted by college programs like Arkansas and Tennessee:

League sources said Gruden has made calls identifying possible staff members with his focus seeming more on the college game, asking questions of those potential staffers about recruiting and issues that do not relate to pro football. Numerous sources who have talked to him in recent weeks came away with the impression that Gruden was more serious about return to coaching now than at any time since he was fired by the Bucs after the 2008 season, although it still would have to be a perfect situation to lure him from his current job at ESPN, where he is well compensated and gets to have a fairly normal family life.

Gruden and the Monday Night Football crew must be thrilled that they’ll get to call the Eagles-Panthers game next week. The two teams are a combined 5-15 and have been outscored by a total of 149 points.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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