Chip Kelly is the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and, through two games, he has done an enviable job in leading the team to a 1-1 record. However, Kelly reportedly could have been in a potentially more attractive position... as the head of the USC Trojans.
Joel Klatt of FOX Sports (h/t Aaron Torres of FOXSports.com) spoke with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday and shared this tidbit of information:
"I think Chip Kelly wanted to be the USC coach... I have heard that from a couple different people that are around the program, and vetted that out a little bit."
That is pretty jarring information given that Kelly was "gettable" at the time for USC, and Klatt expanded on his initial thought when prompted by Cowherd. In short, USC passed on even approaching Kelly for a strange reason.
"Because Pat Haden didn't want to be told no. Again, I've said this before, I think Pat Haden was incredibly insecure as an athletic director. He wanted everyone to tell him how good he was, he wanted everyone to tell him that they wanted to come work at his place. He didn't want to have go out there and convince somebody, at the risk of them telling him no.
I think that he thought Chip Kelly was too much of a risk. Because it might turn up egg on his face if Chip Kelly decided to politefully decline like Chris Petersen did from Washington. I think Chip wanted the job, he would have taken the job, and it was given Clay Helton kind of, at midnight [if you will]."
It has to be noted that this is simply one report from a non-USC source, but it isn't the best look for the Trojans. The Clay Helton era has not started according to plan in Los Angeles given the team's ugly 1-2 start, and Chip Kelly is a proven commodity at the college level during his time at Oregon.
More information could surface on this very interesting report, but the hot seat with regard to Clay Helton will be heating up in the near future without a sharp turnaround on the field.
