Chip Kelly Confirms Commitment to Eagles After USC Rumors

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly reiterated Monday he's committed to the team despite rumors linking him to USC and other potential jobs.

"I've never spoken to anybody from USC. ... I've never had any contact with Southern Cal," said Kelly, per Eagles Insider on Twitter. The account added another quote from Kelly addressing the situation:

Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com included Kelly's comments specifying where he was Friday—which is at odds with the Football Scoop report by Scott Rousell that indicated the coach met with USC in Philadelphia that day:

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport had reported USC was interested in Kelly and the coach was "despondent" and feeling the heat following Philadelphia's 45-14 Thanksgiving loss to the Detroit Lions, per NFL.com's Conor Orr.

Kelly has been pressed about his future amid an unsavory 2015 campaign that's seen the Eagles post a 4-7 record. Philly has already lost more games than any other prior season under Kelly, who posted a 10-6 mark in each of his first two years at the helm.

Although he didn't completely rule out a return to college football, Kelly did say last week when asked about NCAA coaching vacancies, per the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett, "Oh, I have a job."

Having built a powerhouse program at Oregon before making the leap to the NFL, it's logical—albeit a distraction—for Kelly to field questions about bailing on the pro game. With all the power the Eagles gave Kelly this offseason, though, it'd be a shock to see him bail after this year.

Kelly has had final say over personnel decisions and built a roster to his liking for 2015. It hasn't panned out thus far, but the quarterback position with Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez simply isn't good enough.

Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated has been among those converted from Kelly believers into skeptics:

If Kelly were to flee Philly, the destination that may make the most sense is the Tennessee Titans. Rapoport has linked Kelly to the team, suggesting a switch is possible "especially if Kelly did not want personnel control," per NFL Media on Twitter.

Should he indeed join the Titans, Kelly would be reunited with his former Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, which could be the perfect marriage to get the most out of Kelly’s up-tempo offense at the pro level.

Bradford, Sanchez and Nick Foles, Kelly's prior and recent primary starting QBs, don't have the speed Mariota does to carry out the zone-read running plays Kelly runs often. The coach hasn't had a true dual-threat signal-caller in the NFL to run his system, other than a past-his-prime Michael Vick.

An athlete like Mariota could well make Kelly look like the genius he was widely praised to be before this season's struggles.

It would be wise to see how the rest of the year plays out first before rash conclusions are made about what Kelly's next career move is. Despite a bad record, Philadelphia is only one game back in the NFC East standings entering Week 13.