Chip Kelly suddenly has a potential college opportunity

After the 49ers abruptly fired coach Chip Kelly, he made it clear wouldn’t rule out a return to college football.

“I never looked at college because all those jobs are filled while NFL season is still going on,” Kelly told Bruce Feldman of FOX.

In that same story, Feldman reported that multiple college teams would fire their head coaches if they thought they could get Kelly. And now, nearly two months after one program played its most recent game, someone has.

Feldman reports that Cal has fired coach Sonny Dykes, capping the item with this: “A search for Dykes’ replacement is expected to begin immediately, with hopes the school will have its new coach in place before the end of this week when recruiting heats up again.”

Surprisingly, Feldman doesn’t mention Kelly. But that’s the obvious implication — especially since Cal plays in the same conference where Kelly rose to prominence with Oregon.

Frankly, it would be a surprise if Cal hires anyone but Kelly before the end of the week. It also would be a surprise if Cal didn’t know that it would be hiring Kelly before firing Dykes.