Chip Kelly’s $6M Salary Latest Sign of Exploding Coordinator Pay

Chip Kelly’s return to the NFL is highlighting the astronomical rise for coordinator pay in both the pro and college ranks.

The Raiders hired Kelly as their new offensive coordinator, giving him a salary “averaging $6 million per year,” sources told The MMQB’s Albert Breer. That’s nearly triple the $2.1 million base salary Kelly was set to receive as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator in 2025. Kelly will be the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL, per Breer.

It’s a power move by the Raiders, led by owner Mark Davis and minority owner Tom Brady, who last week hired head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Spytek. Carroll, the oldest head coach in the NFL, will turn 74 in September. His contract in Las Vegas is for three years. Kelly is 61, and he could even conceivably take over as head coach when Carroll retires. 

As head coach of the Eagles from 2013 to 2015, Kelly infamously won a power struggle and took the GM role away from Howie Roseman in 2015, only to get fired by the end of that season. Roseman returned in 2016, assumed the GM duties, and subsequently hired head coach Doug Pederson. Philadelphia won Super Bowl LII following the 2017 season.

Kelly coached the 49ers in 2016 but was fired again after just one season. He was UCLA’s head coach from 2018 to 2023, before stepping down to join Ohio State and helping lead the Buckeyes to a national championship.

Expense Report

Kelly’s offensive coordinator salary in Las Vegas is higher than the reported salary values for more than half of NFL head coaches. It also further showcases the investment franchises are willing to make in assistant coaches.  

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo makes $5 million per season after his latest contract extension in 2024. Before Kelly’s hire, the Buccaneers offered Liam Coen a contract extension that would have made him the highest-paid coordinator in NFL history with a salary of nearly $4.5 million. Coen ultimately became the Jaguars head coach.

In college, Kelly’s former colleague Jim Knowles left his role as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator to take the same job at Penn State on a three-year deal that will average $3.1 million per season, sources told ESPN, which would make him the highest-paid college coordinator in the country.