Oregon Coach Chip Kelly Will Be Fired

We have yet another wrinkle in the Oregon Will Lyles saga to report… a little detail that could be the reason that head coach Chip Kelly fired.

It’s pretty clear based on the facts that have come out that Oregon will be facing some sort of sanctions from the NCAA for their involvement with Lyles and probably major ones… but alone they’re not enough to cost Kelly his job.

However if it is proven that Kelly knew he was giving Lyles $25,000 to steer players there, then just as Jim Tressel was given the boot for knowingly committing a violation and trying to cover it up, I don’t care how good of a coach he is his ass will be grass.

And based on the conversations Kelly had with a reporter before and after teh story broke… that’s exactly what sounds like happened.

As far as Kelly and his relationship with Lyles is concerned, John Canzano ofThe Oregonian relays a brief conversation he had with the head coach (for now) that is illuminating on a couple of different fronts.

I spoke with University of Oregon football coach Chip Kelly in early March, amid reports that a Texas man named Willie Lyles was involved in a recruiting scandal that could bring down the Ducks program.

Kelly told me he didn’t know who Willie Lyles was.

I believed him.

That same evening, a Yahoo Sports story reported that Lyles was paid $25,000 by Oregon. So I texted Kelly, asking him why he lied to me, and we ended up on the telephone, where Kelly insisted I’d confused him by asking about “Willie Lyles.” He said, “around here, we call him ‘Will.’ We’ve already distanced ourselves from him, trust me.”

The only good news about this is that at least Kelly wasn’t caught lying to the NCAA, but when the NCAA does come a knocking I doubt his explanation of the programs relationship with Lyles will get any more better.

via CFT