REPORT:What Ryan Day Said After Chip Kelly Left Ohio State For Las Vegas Raiders: ‘Pretty Special’…….
Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day is losing his offensive coordinator, and friend, Chip Kelly to the Las Vegas Raiders. Kelly will be the highest paid NFL coordinator under new Raiders coach Pete Carroll, set to make an average of $6 million per year with the Raiders according to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Day was in the middle of recording an interview with Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt when that news broke and he gave his reaction.
“That was great. It was great [to win a national championship with Kelly],” Day told Klatt. “We talked about it, the fact that, you know, we had a really good group here and, you know, the dream would be to win a national championship. And then, you know, he decides whether he wants to stay or have an opportunity to go to the NFL, and that’s exactly what happened.”
“Just to be able to have a beer in a few years and talk about the year that we had together is gonna be special, because we all started together and this is where I started with him. And we went and did that and what a great story. I know so many people back home in New Hampshire are just excited for him and for the story. It’s pretty special.”
Day and Kelly have a long history. As a college football player, Day was coached by Kelly at New Hampshire. Day then coached with Kelly at New Hampshire (2002) and also for two years in the NFL (2015, Philadelphia Eagles; 2016,San Francisco 49ers.)
Ohio State defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 34-23, to become 2024-25 College Football Playoff National Champions and earn its sixth national title. It’s Ohio State’s first championship since defeating the Oregon Ducks in 2014.
Day revealed the team could not have gotten to the championship game with first-year offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. The former Duck Kelly brought immense success to Oregon from 2007-2012 and is now celebrating a national championship with the Buckeyes.
It’s awesome. I’m so happy for these players,” Kelly said after the game in an interview with WBNS 10. “They stuck together, a bunch of those guys who came back for their last year, and their leadership was amazing through everything that this group went through. I’m just really just really happy for them – that they got a chance to say that they’re champions, because I knew after being here very shortly that they are champions.”
Kelly gave a ton of praise to his head coach and friend, Day, for overcoming a deflating loss to rival Michigan Wolverinesand leading Ohio State through a treacherous College Football Playoff path. En route to becoming champions of college football’s first 12-team playoff, the Buckeyes defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
“Really happy for (Coach Day) and how he led this team,” Kelly continued. “He led the team right from the front, did an amazing job. You know, to lose the last game of the regular season like we did, but then to rally this group and then face the teams we faced – to go beat a Tennessee team that was a really good team, and then beat the No. 1 team in Oregon and then go beat Texas in Texas. Then you have a chance to play in this game (vs. Notre Dame) was awesome, but I’m just really happy for (Day)”.
The feeling is mutual as Day credited Kelly’s play calling for much of the teams success ahead of the championship game.
Chip Kelly obviously is a mentor of mine and a friend and a colleague, and so I would never be where I’m at right now without Chip, and certainly the same thing is to be said for this season, as well,” Day said.
Oregon fans won’t be facing Kelly in matchups against budding Big Ten rival Ohio State. However Ducks fans can still see what their former coach is cooking up in the NFL.
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