In a changing college football landscape, new Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly believes that the ’Cats are well-positioned to take a leap.
“As I looked through everything, this was a situation that you get excited about,” said Kelly at his introductory press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “You’re excited about moving into a new stadium, excited about an up-and-coming team.”
Kelly, who was hired in early January, added that he did not have a strong previous relationship Northwestern,
head coach David Braun or athletic director Mark Jackson. He said he made the decision to join Braun’s staff because he was “intrigued” by Braun and Jackson’s vision for the program, as well as the opportunity to work with highly motivated student-athletes.
In describing his new offensive coordinator, Braun kept coming back to a single word: experience.
“It’s really easy to look at Chip’s experience and say, ‘Absolutely, without a doubt, the right person to be leading our offense,’” Braun said.
Kelly is one of the most decorated offensive minds of the last 20 years. In 12 seasons at Oregon and UCLA (10 as a head coach, two as offensive coordinator) Kelly’s offenses finished outside the top-20 in scoring just once. Recently, Kelly won a national championship as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator during the 2024-25 season, before a brief stint as the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I’m also excited about all the conversations Chip and I are having about program development,” said Braun. “I’d be silly to sit up here and and pretend like I have it all figured out as a head coach…I know I have someone sitting to my left that has done it at an extremely high level in terms of coordinating offense, but also as a head coach.”
Kelly has spent his first month since being hired on the recruiting trail, first helping build Northwestern’s class of 16 transfers, and then making a series of visits to the school’s top targets in high school.
“We now have an opportunity to have conversations with young men that want to reach their fullest potential as a football player and [who] want to work with the best and the brightest people in the coaching space,” said Braun.
Kelly helped bring in new quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel from UCLA, noting that he initially brought up Neuheisel’s name to Braun. Neuheisel was on Kelly’s staff for all six years that Kelly served as the Bruins’ head coach. Neuheisel excelled as UCLA’s interim offensive coordinator in 2025, and he was carried off the field by his players after the Bruins’ 42-37 upset victory over Penn State.
“Myself and his dad, I think we’re [Neuheisel’s] two biggest fans,” said Kelly. “He’s a rising star in this profession and I think he’ll be a head coach really shortly.”
Braun is giddy to have both Kelly and Neuheisel on board.
“I would argue that we’ve got the best offensive staff in all of college football,” said Braun. “I feel like we’re really positioned to do some special things, not just in 2026 but for a long, long time.”
On Wednesday, Kelly acknowledged that he hasn’t gotten very far in his evaluations of the current roster, though he was incredibly complimentary of Northwestern running back Caleb Komolafe, calling him “one tough sucker.”
“We’re studying film of what they’ve done but just watching our guys at workouts,” Kelly said. “We really won’t get a real good beat until we get on the field for spring ball, which will start sometime in the month of March.”
Near the end of the presser, Braun acknowledged the difficulties that lie ahead on Northwestern’s daunting 2026 schedule, which includes road matchups against Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State and 11 straight games without a bye week. Yet Northwestern’s leading man believes his team is up for the challenge.
“The Big Ten is the best football conference in the country, clearly…I embrace it with a smile on my face” Braun said. “Bring on the competition. This is what we signed up for.”
