With additional NFL jobs seemingly opening by the second, the odds are perhaps increasing that a professional team could fill their vacancy with a college coach.

If that happens, one of those programs might then be in a position to bring back Chip Kelly to the level on which he excelled.

The San Francisco 49ers fired Kelly on Sunday evening. He went 2-14 in his first and only season with the Niners. He was previously 26-21 in three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was fired a year ago.

By contrast, Kelly went 46-7 in four seasons as Oregon’s head coach, taking the Ducks to one national title game and paving the way for another appearance.

The 53-year-old Kelly has publicly said that he does not have great interest in returning to college football, but a source told us that he has indicated otherwise in the past year to friends.

So which program makes the most sense for Kelly if one is suddenly in need of a coach?



1. UCLA

Industry sources have told us that Jim Mora is the likeliest of the college coaches to make a jump to the pro level. In Mora’s case, it would be a return. Mora went 31-33 in four seasons in the NFL, where he last coached Seattle in 2009. He’s 41-24 at UCLA, where injuries — including one to star QB Josh Rosen — primarily led to a 4-8 2016 season.

If it opened, coaches and agents agree that UCLA feels like the absolute best fit for Kelly’s return. It’s the league he knows best and a city and state in which he has recruited for years. Kelly would immediately cast a bigger spotlight than the more understated Clay Helton at USC — and it’s not often that UCLA can steal away football attention from its crosstown rival.

There’s an alternate route for Kelly to Westwood, as well: Mora enters 2017 on the hot seat. Some sources, however, wonder if the school, known for being fiscally tight, would pay both Mora’s buyout and whatever Kelly commanded. This could be the unique candidate to make an exception.



2. NOTRE DAME

As with Mora, some wonder what the NFL market is for a college coach coming off a 4-8 season. It’s a crossroads point for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, regardless: Kelly has replaced both coordinators in this offseason, and support is waning after a tumultuous calendar year.

But let's say an NFL team warmed to him. The biggest question, some sources pointed out, is whether Chip Kelly would be interested in having a strict academic standard to which you’re forced to follow. Perhaps the “Notre Dame brand” is enough to offset those concerns. It still remains a highly visible and coveted job, and it stands to reason that Notre Dame’s administration would strongly consider a Kelly swap. As with Mora and his hefty buyout, not having to eventually make a decision regarding Brian Kelly would be a relief for the school.



3. TEXAS A&M

Kevin Sumlin continues to bump into an eight-win ceiling at A&M, which has pushed him toward the hot seat. But he has reportedly been sought after by multiple NFL franchises in past years.

It could provide a nice parachute for both sides in College Station — and it would open the door for Kelly to take over a capable program with fantastic resources and a fertile recruiting base.

How would he fare in Texas and in the SEC? And would he want to? Those are all fair questions.

“He doesn’t strike me as an SEC guy, or someone who wants to deal with the things you deal with there,” one industry source told us, adding that Kelly bristled at booster politics at Oregon. “Would he really want to step into that (at Texas A&M or an SEC school)?”



4. STANFORD

Perennially, David Shaw is a hotly coveted by NFL front offices. But it becomes clearer by the year that Shaw is quite comfortable at Stanford.

If a particular job did happen to strike Shaw’s fancy, Stanford would be a quirky fit for Kelly. It’s in the same division in which Kelly enjoyed success but it’s at the competitor that intermittently tripped up the Ducks using an entirely different style and scheme.

As with the Notre Dame job, perhaps Kelly would not be overly interested in navigating a fickle academic standard.



5. PENN STATE

Coaches and agents are skeptical James Franklin would really be in play for a job such as Buffalo, but his name has surfaced in a few spots.

This also feels like a ragged fit for Kelly. He is from the Northeast, sure, but would you really want to jump in a division with Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh clicking on the recruiting trail and on the field? That said, Franklin and PSU did win the conference in 2016.