Ohio State football and coach Ryan Day made a coaching hire splash in the offseason, when it hired former UCLA coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

It was an interesting move for Kelly, who decided he’d rather be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State than the head coach at UCLA, a position he held from 2018-23.

Day and Kelly have history, which made the move make sense, as Kelly was Day’s offensive coordinator when Day was New Hampshire’s quarterback from 1998-2001. Day was also the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers when Kelly was an NFL head coach.

REQUIRED READING: Ryan Day, assistants see bonus total rise further with Ohio State’s run to CFP title game

Day’s first coaching job as New Hampshire’s tight ends coach in 2002 was also under Kelly’s offense.

Kelly, who won three Pac-12 championships and led Oregon to the 2011 national championship, is among the most experienced offensive minds in all of college football.

Here’s why Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State ahead of the 2024-25 season:

Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State?

Kelly explained his decision to move from UCLA head coach to assistant at Ohio State in his first spring with the Buckeyes in March.

Kelly, who hadn’t been an assistant being the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2008, coached UCLA’s quarterbacks for the Bruins’ LA Bowl matchup with Boise State, after Ryan Gunderson left to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon State.

He said being a position coach reinvigorated his love for football.

“I actually coached the quarterbacks for the bowl game, and I just started to think, like I hadn’t actually coached a position since 2008,” Kelly told reporters in his introductory press conference. “I think my wife remarked, she was like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.’ And, to me, the best part of football is football. And so, you got to do football, and not do some of the things involved with the head coaching deal.”

Kelly then said he started looking into possible opportunities to be an assistant coach again.

“So I started to look into, ‘Is there an opportunity?’” Kelly said. “And it would have had to been the right spot to go somewhere and just coach a position again and be back with that group.”

Kelly has been the head coach at Oregon and UCLA, and also the NFL’s Eagles and 49ers since he last stint as an assistant.

Of course, it would’ve taken one of the top assistant roles in college football to likely lure Kelly away from UCLA, which Ohio State provided. It’s unclear what some of the things with head coaching were that turned Kelly away from the Bruins, however, with the current age of college football in recruiting, name, image and likeness and also leading UCLA into a new conference, it likely took a toll on Kelly’s time.

Kelly said being a head coach in the current era of college football requires being a “CEO.”

“I just want to be happy. And I’m really happy coaching the position,” Kelly said. “Really happy to be at this place. It would have taken a special place for me to leave UCLA, because I love those players and I love that coaching staff, but to be here with Ryan, had a great relationship, I’ve known Ryan since he was a little kid. So, I think a lot of things just fell into place that way.”

Kelly took the job that was previously filled by Bill O’Brien during the offseason, but O’Brien never actually coached the Buckeyes as he turned around and took the head coaching position at Boston College, leaving the opportunity open for Kelly.

“Sometimes I do a lot of things other people don’t do,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong.”

Chip Kelly contract

According to USA TODAY’s assistant coaches’ salary database, Kelly is the eighth-highest paid assistant in college football, making $2 million this year.

He also can make up to $940,000 in bonuses.

Chip Kelly buyout

Ohio State paid UCLA $1.5 million to hire him as offensive coordinator, according to USA TODAY’s salary database. Ohio State also paid an undetermined amount to reduce the tax impact on Kelly.

Kelly signed a contract extension with the Bruins in 2023, which would’ve paid him $6.1 million in 2024.

ATLANTA — The sports world will be watching Ohio State and Notre Dame Monday night with the national championship at stake. 

So will Rich Hansen, but he will be particularly focused on two guys: Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon and Notre Dame defensive end RJ Oben. 

St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City will be on center stage, featuring two of its alums in college football’s biggest game. The duo played together for three seasons. 

“I’m excited for them, man,” Hansen, the school’s athletic director and former football coach, said. “These two guys are among the finest humans walking the planet, and I mean that. Obviously they possess an athletic skill set, but there’s so much more to them, you know. 

“They embraced the grind, the competition and challenge, and that’s really what sets them apart. Their work ethic, they carried themselves with maturity and class here. I can’t think of two guys who are more deserving to be in that environment and have that opportunity. It was the honor of my career to coach two guys like that.” 

Both Simon and Oben have helped their respective defenses be among the country’s best.

Simon led Ohio State in tackles with 104 and notched seven sacks and seven passes defensed.

He was the Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, a one-sided Buckeyes victory over Oregon in which he had 11 tackles and two sacks.

In his first season at Notre Dame, after spending the first five years of his career at Duke, Oben had 18 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. 

Both had to be patient.

Simon waited his turn at Ohio State, finally breaking out as a fifth-year senior.

Oben, the son of former Giants offensive lineman Roman Oben, didn’t play quite as much as he may have liked this year, but he came up big in a quarterfinal win over Georgia with a strip sack. 

Now, the two former high school teammates will share the same field one more time as opponents at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

“I talked to RJ a couple days ago. It’s always bigger than the rivalry or anything,” Simon said. “I just appreciate he’s in the position with me and we can all share the moment. Two guys from the same high school are pretty cool. 

“We have a term called, ‘Prep for Life.’ That really does run deep. There’s a lot of people who have come from our school, and we always try to stay connected. It does mean a lot for our high school.” 

20.1s039.CFP-Side.xml

Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon and Notre Dame defensive end RJ Oben.

The only problem for St. Peter’s Prep and Hansen is picking a side. The former coach can’t do it. He does have a dream for Monday night, though. 

“I am rooting for the first ever 0-0 tie in national championship college football history,” Hansen joked. “That’s the bad part of this whole thing. Someone is going to walk off losing and neither one of them deserves to lose. But I’m going to honestly just enjoy their effort and know that they really deserve to be in this environment.”

While the overall talent gap between Ohio State and Notre Dame might be a little bigger than it was between the Buckeyes and their last two opponents – Texas and Oregon – that’s not to say the Fighting Irish don’t have plenty of great players who are capable of challenging the Buckeyes. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be in the national championship game having won their last 13 games in a row.

Given that, Ryan Day has repeatedly emphasized in the days leading up to the national championship game that Ohio State needs to play its best game of the season to hoist the trophy on Monday night.

“We know we have a great challenge ahead of us. Notre Dame’s a very, very good team and very disciplined, a lot of good players, very well-coached, as you know. Certainly complementary in all three phases, put pressure on you,” Day said Friday. “So we know we have to be at our best, and that’s the goal in this game is to play our best game of the season. I still don’t think we’ve done that, and that’s the goal.”

With that in mind, we take a look at how the two teams that will meet in Monday night’s national championship game compare at every position group – with an assessment of which team is stronger at each position entering the national title game – and put together what a composite starting lineup could look like if both rosters were combined.

Quarterback

There are several similarities between the two quarterbacks facing off in the national championship game. Will Howard and Riley Leonard each drew interest from both Ohio State and Notre Dame when they entered the transfer portal last offseason, and both seniors have drawn considerable praise for the leadership and competitiveness they’ve brought to their respective teams in the buildup to the national title game.

That said, Howard has been the considerably more consistent passer between the two this season, completing 72.6% of his passing attempts for 3,779 yards (9.4 yards per attempt) and 33 touchdowns with 10 interceptions compared to a 66.4% completion percentage with 2,606 yards (seven yards per attempt), 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions for Leonard. The Notre Dame quarterback has done more damage as a runner, gaining 866 yards and 16 touchdowns on 167 carries compared to 169 yards and seven touchdowns on 89 carries for Howard, but Howard has still been a capable dual-threat when the Buckeyes have needed him to be.

Advantage: Ohio State

RELATED Will Howard Could Complete One of Ohio State’s Greatest Quarterback Seasons Ever with National Championship

Running Back

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame have elite tandems at running back. Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love are two of the most explosive ballcarriers in the country, while OSU’s Quinshon Judkins and ND’s Jadarian Price have been highly productive complements to Henderson and Love.

Cumulatively, Henderson and Judkins have combined for 1,927 yards and 22 touchdowns on 315 carries (6.1 yards per carry) while Love and Price have totaled 1,855 yards and 24 touchdowns on 276 carries (6.7 yards per carry). Love has battled through a knee injury in Notre Dame’s last two games, but has been the most productive RB between the two teams for the season as a whole, and Notre Dame also has strong depth with freshman Aneyas Williams, who caught five passes for 66 yards in the Fighting Irish’s CFP semifinal win over Penn State.

Assuming Love will be fully healthy after practicing without a knee brace this week, the slight edge goes to the Fighting Irish at running back with how efficient and productive their running backs have been.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Wide Receivers

There’s no more lopsided edge for either team when comparing the position groups in this game than Ohio State has at wide receiver.

Carnell Tate has been Ohio State’s third-most productive receiver this season (50 catches for 698 yards and four touchdowns), yet he has 13 more catches, 234 more yards and one more touchdowns than Notre Dame’s leading wide receiver in each category. The Fighting Irish don’t have any downfield weapons who can come close to comparing to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, and that gap is one of the biggest reasons why Ohio State is favored to win this game.

Advantage: Ohio State

Tight End

While tight end has been an advantage position for the opponent in most of Ohio State’s matchup games this season, the argument could be made in the Buckeyes’ favor for this game. Gee Scott Jr. and Will Kacmarek have been playing their best football of the season in the CFP, and Notre Dame’s Mitchell Evans – who looked like a budding star when he caught seven passes for 75 yards against Ohio State last season – hasn’t had overwhelming production this year.

The Fighting Irish’s tight end depth has also been thinned as their best blocking tight end, Cooper Flanagan, suffered a season-ending injury in Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. Evans is still the top receiving tight end in this game (39 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns) and Eli Raridon is a solid backup for the Fighting Irish, but the gap here isn’t as big as Notre Dame might have hoped it would be.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Offensive Line

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame have been snakebitten by injuries along the offensive line this season, and the left tackle position is a particular position of concern for the Fighting Irish after Anthonie Knapp went down with a season-ending injury against Penn State. They’ll now be counting on Charles Jagusah – who was expected to be their starting left tackle entering the season but had missed the entire season due to injury before filling in at right guard in the Orange Bowl – to play the premier position on the offensive line in just his second career start.

Assuming Rocco Spindler is able to return to action after leaving the Orange Bowl with an injury of his own, Notre Dame still has one of the nation’s best interior offensive lines along with a strong right tackle in Aamil Wagner. The Fighting Irish’s strength at those positions gives Notre Dame the edge when comparing the two teams’ offensive lines as a whole, but that edge is contingent on Jagusah being the player Notre Dame thought he could be entering the season, along with Spindler’s health.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Defensive End

Like wide receiver, this is another position where Ohio State has a massive advantage. While Notre Dame has lost two of its best edge rushers, Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, to injuries suffered in the regular season, Ohio State’s defensive end tandem of Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau has been dominant in the CFP.

In three CFP games alone, Tuimoloau and Sawyer have combined for 10 sacks. Notre Dame’s available edge rushers have combined for seven sacks for the entire season. That’s not to say the Fighting Irish can’t still generate pressure off the edge, but they don’t have anyone who can take over a game like Sawyer or Tuimoloau.

Advantage: Ohio State

JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer have combined for more sacks in the CFP than Notre Dame’s uninjured edge rushers have had all season. (Photo: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Defensive Tackle

This is another position where injury has changed the equation for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish’s best defensive lineman, Rylie Mills, suffered a season-ending injury in their first-round playoff win over Indiana.

Notre Dame still has one excellent defensive tackle in Howard Cross III, and Gabriel Rubio has stepped up well in Mills’ absence. With Mills on the sideline, however, Ohio State might have the two best defensive tackles in the national championship game in Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, with Williams being the biggest game-wrecker on the interior defensive line for either team.

Advantage: Ohio State

Linebacker

Both teams feature an excellent veteran leader at linebacker with Cody Simon leading the way from the Mike linebacker spot for the Buckeyes and Jack Kiser doing the same from the Will linebacker position for Notre Dame.

Simon and Sonny Styles have been the most productive linebackers between the two teams this season; Simon has recorded 104 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and seven pass breakups while Styles has recorded 94 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and five pass breakups. Notre Dame has a deeper rotation at linebacker, however, with four linebackers who have each recorded at least 50 tackles and four tackles for loss this season.

This is the tightest comparison of any position on defense, with Simon and Kiser being the two best all-around linebackers between the two teams, but I’m giving the slim advantage to Ohio State based on how impactful Simon has been this year.

Advantage: Ohio State

Cornerback

This is another position where Notre Dame suffered a major injury loss as Benjamin Morrison, an All-American candidate at cornerback, went down with a hip injury in the middle of the regular season. Despite that loss, the cornerback position has continued to be a strength for the Fighting Irish with Leonard Moore earning FWAA Defensive Freshman of the Year honors and Christian Gray giving Notre Dame another difference-maker on the outside of its secondary. Jordan Clark, the son of former NFL safety Ryan Clark, has also been an active playmaker for Notre Dame at nickelback.

The cornerback position certainly isn’t a weakness for Ohio State either as Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock have led the way for OSU to lead the nation in passing yards allowed per game. But with Burke coming off an injury that sidelined him for the second half of the Cotton Bowl and penalties being a recurring issue for Igbinosun this season, cornerback is a slightly greater position of strength for the Fighting Irish.

Advantage: Notre Dame

RELATED Elite Notre Dame Pass Defense Won’t Abandon Man Coverage Against Ohio State

Safety

National championship game viewers will be treated to watching the two best safeties in college football, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs and Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts. Both of them lead their respective defenses from the free safety spot, with Downs moving all over the field to make plays while Watts – who’s tied for second nationally with six interceptions this season – is the linchpin of Notre Dame’s Cover 1 defense.

Both teams have impactful strong safeties, too, with Lathan Ransom joining Downs to form an elite tandem over the middle for the Buckeyes while Adon Shuler has had an excellent redshirt freshman season for Notre Dame. Both teams’ safety tandems make it tough to throw the ball over the middle of the field, but there’s no better pair of safeties against the run in college football than Downs and Ransom, which gives Ohio State the overall advantage here.

Advantage: Ohio State

Projected Composite Lineup