AP

The path for Chip Kelly to reunite with Marcus Mariota became a lot clearer on Tuesday, when the Titans fired coach Ken Whisenhunt. To put the two together again, here’s how it would work.

After the season ends for the Titans and Eagles, the Titans would be permitted to request from the Eagles permission to speak to Kelly, and to sign him to a contract. Before permission is granted, the two teams must negotiate the terms of compensation, in the event the Titans hire Kelly.

The question becomes what the Eagles would want for Kelly, and what the Titans would be willing to surrender. Much of that hinges on how committed Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is to keeping Kelly around — and how committed the Titans would be to getting him.

Kelly’s wishes will be a major factor in this. If he wants out of Philly, Lurie likely won’t put up a major fight to keep him around. Especially if the Eagles, currently 3-4, don’t make it to the playoffs this season.

As Kelly is learning, thanks to a revolving door that has included Mike Vick, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, and Sam Bradford, a coach needs a great quarterback to succeed consistently at the NFL level. While the jury is still out on whether Mariota will be a great NFL quarterback, Kelly believes that Mariota will be great.