April 14—***
Remember when it was important for an Illinois assistant coach to make more than $1 in annual salary? Ryan Walters, now the head honcho at Purdue, broke that barrier.
But the Illini still have a long way to go to get Chip Kelly money. According to published reports, Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator is expected to make $2 million in 2024, with scheduled raises of $100,000 in the following two years.
In my opinion, Kelly traded a lot of money ($6 million a year at UCLA) for a less stressful existence at a much better program.
Additionally, the cost of living in Columbus will be much lower than it would be for Kelly in the Los Angeles area.
The Buckeyes still need to win or he will be out of a job. But the odds are much higher that he wins with Ryan Day than they would have been if he had stayed in California while the Bruins advanced to the Big Ten. Let this be someone else’s headache.
Kelly won’t play against his former school until 2025, when the Bruins visit Ohio Stadium. By then, everything will be forgotten. Probably not.
