Raiders head coach Pete Carroll’s decision to fire offensive coordinator Chip Kelly reportedly came after a series of play calling mistakes.
Kelly would call plays incorrectly, or call plays that weren’t even part of the playbook, and put quarterback Geno Smith in an impossible position, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
“There were times, I was told, where Chip Kelly was repeatedly botching the play calls, where he’s supposed to be, for instance, tagging the motion on a play, so the receiver’s on the left, not the right. He forgets to say it, so Geno Smith is at the line of scrimmage going, ‘This doesn’t look right’ and they’re trying to run a play,” Pelissero told Rich Eisen. “Chip, I was told, on several occasions called a play that was either not in the game plan or not installed at all.”
Kelly has had plenty of success at the college level, but his three NFL jobs — head coach of the Eagles and 49ers, and this year as offensive coordinator of the Raiders — have all ended badly. If he wants to keep coaching, the 62-year-old Kelly will have options in college. But he may have proven himself once and for all a bad fit in the NFL.