Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly has landed a new job, and I think it could be a good one. ESPN announced on Friday that they have hired Kelly to serve in an analyst role for both college football and the NFL. According to ESPN, he’ll work Friday and Sunday SportsCenter, but predominantly work on Saturday college football coverage for pre-games, halftimes and studio wraps on ESPN2.
Kelly’s NFL career did not pan out like he was hoping, and he will probably be back coaching a college program before too long, but in the meantime, I really like this hire. Former players and coaches can offer a great perspective as a studio analyst. Some are significantly better than others, and I have a feeling Kelly will be a strong analyst.
His press conferences with the 49ers were regularly interesting in the information he provided. He hid information as well as anybody, but when it came to explaining things, particularly even just the basics of football, he was always an educational listen. And while he might not have been laugh out loud funny, he had a dry sense of humor that was entertaining.
Kelly signed a multi-year deal with ESPN, and while I do not know how long the deal is, I don’t expect him to last the length of it. Maybe it happens next year, maybe the year after, but it seems likely he is back coaching before too long. In the meantime, this actually might make me more likely to catch some ESPN coverage to hear what the former head coach has to say.