Eagles' Chip Kelly reportedly met with Southern California about coaching opening, which Kelly denies

On Monday, the University of Southern California announced that it had removed the interim tag from coach Clay Helton’s title, naming him permanent coach, or at least as permanent as things can be in big-time NCAA football.

But before elevating Helton, officials from USC’s athletic department reportedly talked with Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly about the opening, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport saying USC “touched base” with Kelly and FootballScoop.com going a step further, reporting that USC had met with Kelly in Philadelphia, and it believed the meeting happened on Friday.

Kelly met with reporters around midday Monday, his first time in front of media since the Eagles’ Thanksgiving Day takedown at the hands of the Lions. Now in his third year in Philadelphia, Kelly denied having spoken to anyone affiliated with the Trojans’ program:

	Jeff McLane @Jeff_McLane
Chip Kelly: I've had no contact with USC or any college. I wasn't in Philly on Friday, so report that I met with SC isn't true. 10:01 AM - 30 Nov 2015

Kelly reaffirmed that he is “totally committed” to the Eagles, and added that he was in his native New Hampshire on Friday.

But Kelly, like many other coaches, has been known to give his version of the truth in the past and could have been talking in technicalities. He could have met with USC officials in New Hampshire, not Pennsylvania, or perhaps he met with them on Saturday at his home in a town near Philadelphia, which isn’t in Philly proper.

Or perhaps it wasn’t Kelly, but Kelly’s agent or another confidante who spoke to the school. And it is entirely possible he is telling the truth in this case.

But after posting a 46-7 record in his four years as Oregon head coach before leaving for the Eagles in 2013, Kelly has become a next-gen version of Jon Gruden. For years, every time the NFL has had a vacancy, Gruden’s name has almost always been tied to it, but the current ESPN Monday Night Football analyst hasn’t gone anywhere (though he has likely gotten a couple of pay raises out of the chatter). The same will happen with Kelly, particularly with the Eagles looking worse and worse despite using players Kelly hand-picked after winning a battle for personnel power earlier this year.

But with USC off the board and Louisiana State deciding to hold onto Les Miles after a week of reports on the school and coach’s divorce being imminent, there may not be many jobs Kelly would find appealing. The Miami (Fla.) job is still open, as are Missouri and South Carolina.

Another option: Kelly could leave Philadelphia but remain in the NFL. The Tennessee Titans fired their head coach earlier this month, and drafted quarterback Marcus Mariota second overall earlier this year. Mariota’s first college coach? Chip Kelly.