Philadelphia Eagles Hire Chip Kelly as Head Coach

Chip Kelly is the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, ESPN is reporting.

ESPN broke the Kelly news, as the once-counted-out Oregon Ducks coach recently came back into the picture. Kelly initially elected to stay in Oregon when the Eagles first reached out to him earlier this month.

Kelly is known for using a spread option offensive scheme, which helped his Ducks stay at or near the top of many offensive categories for his four seasons. The Eugene team made an appearance in the BCS National Championship game against Auburn in early January 2011. The following season, the Ducks ended as the #4 team in the country, and followed it up with a final rank of #2 this past season. Kelly's team played in a BCS Bowl each year he was at the helm.

Kelly spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Ducks before earning the head coach position. Prior to that, Kelly spent eight seasons as the University of New Hampshire Wildcats offensive coordinator after other coaching stints at Johns Hopkins and Columbia.

The new Eagles head coach has consulted and brainstormed offensive schemes with multiple NFL coaches, including the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll and New England Patriots' Bill Belichick. He interviewed with three NFL teams for their respective head coaching positions: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last off-season, and two teams this month: the Cleveland Browns and Eagles.

Kelly replaces Andy Reid, who just took the Kansas City Chiefs' head coaching job after more than a decade in Philadelphia. Reid brought the Eagles to four NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl, but never won a championship.