Chip Kelly's been firm about not wanting to return to Oregon, reiterating time and time again that he has no interest.
But given the way his first season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers is destined to end—-the 49ers are 1-10 and appear to be a lock to continue that trend—-some in the know think that maybe he should. Most notably, fired Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich, who served as one of Kelly's assistants at Oregon.
In an ESPN radio interview Friday, Helfrich said he recently reached out to Kelly about heading back to Eugene.
"There were all those rumors out there and all that stuff," Helfrich said. "At that point, you're kind of thinking of every possible scenario. Obviously he had been contacted a few times or something."
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Helfrich added that Kelly going back to coach the Ducks makes sense for a lot of reasons, but the one that stood out for him was saving jobs.
"It was just probably more selfishly than anything when you start thinking of your assistants and all the support staff, all these people," he continued. "If he were to come back here, some of those people would be safe."
While Kelly has been adamantly against a return to the college ranks, he may not have a choice. His current deal, four years at $24 million, could be subject to change. The offensive genius he was brought in to be hasn't materialized. The 49ers are the NFL's 29th-ranked total offense, 22nd-ranked scoring offense, and 30th-ranked passing offense.
