The Las Vegas Raiders have been struggling to find organizational stability, let alone success, for a while. They hired Pete Carroll, who guided the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in the 2013 season and had success with the University of Southern California in the 2000s, to be their head coach this past offseason, and it was hoped he would turn things around.
Another reason for hope was the fact that Geno Smith, Carroll’s quarterback during his last two years in Seattle, was brought in during the offseason, as was Chip Kelly, the well-tenured coach who was hired to be Carroll’s offensive coordinator.
But on Sunday, the Raiders fell to the Cleveland Browns, a team that isn’t exactly superior to them, by 14 points in Shedeur Sanders’ first career start as an NFL quarterback. With a 2-9 record, Las Vegas has reportedly fired Kelly, per ESPN insider Adam Schefter.
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Kelly, who will turn 62 years of age on Tuesday, was mostly known as a college coach for many years. After serving as an assistant at Columbia University, the University of New Hampshire and Johns Hopkins University, he became the offensive coordinator for the University of Oregon in 2007. Two years later, he was promoted to head coach, a role he held throughout 2012.
He tried his hand as an NFL head coach afterward. He was at the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013 to 2015 and the San Francisco 49ers during the 2016 campaign. But the lack of success both teams had with him resulted in both of them firing him.
After being the head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles for six seasons, Kelly served as Ohio State University’s offensive coordinator last year, and in that capacity, he helped the Buckeyes win the national championship.
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Kelly’s up-tempo spread offense allowed him to have success in the college ranks, but pundits have criticized the offensive schemes he has used in the NFL. The Raiders entered Sunday ranked 30th in scoring and total yards and next-to-last in first downs.
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