Nebraska football: Chip Kelly baggage appears to be too much for Florida

Nebraska football fans might want the Florida Gators to hurry up and hire Chip Kelly as their next coach more than Gator fans do.

Earlier in the week, Nebraska football fans were breathlessly reporting that Florida had officially found its man. The Gators’ next head coach was rumored to be former Oregon Ducks head man Chip Kelly.

According to most people residing in the Twitterverse, Kelly to Florida was so done, they were just dotting the “i’s” and cross the “t’s” and an announcement was incoming. Then a day went by and then another day.

Now, as we head towards the end of the day on Friday, Husker fans might be asking themselves “what’s taking so long?!” Many Big Red enthusiasts feel they have a stake in who Florida hires because if they take Kelly, that means Scott Frost is heading to Lincoln.

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The prevailing thought is that the Gators are Nebraska’s only real competition for Frost, since he’s come to love the state as head man at UCF. The Huskers, of course also don’t officially have an opening so Florida has gotten a bit of a head start in finding their next head coach.

Husker fans, having just seen their team get walloped by a mediocre at best Minnesota team are rightfully angry about the state of the program. Many believe Frost is the man to turn it around. Most who believe this are loathe to accept any other names as the next coach for Nebraska.

While some Husker fans are definitely being a bit reactionary to the rumors flying around, you do have to ask, why hasn’t Florida hired Chip Kelly yet? While the school would have to wait on people like Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen or Frost until the end of the season, they could announce Chip Kelly tomorrow.

Chip Kelly, if Florida really wanted, could be coaching the Gators tomorrow. He isn’t employed anywhere else, other than ESPN as an analyst. Gainesville has had an open position for several weeks now. If the administration was looking hard at Chip Kelly, there is no conceivable reason why the two sides couldn’t have come to a deal if they really wanted to.

One reason why Kelly isn’t the man yet could simply be he’s asking for more money than the Gators are willing to give. The more likely reason is the school has soured on the former Ducks’ coach.

He’s got some package. He had a show cause that only expired a few years ago thanks to some recruiting violations. By all accounts, the school needed to get the official OK from the SEC. At the same time, it’s said the SEC would have given it if that’s what was asked.

What does all this mean for the Nebraska football team? It’s unlikely the Huskers were ever thinking about going after Chip Kelly. What it means is that there could still be a second landing spot for Frost.

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That also means that even if the Gators are not particularly interested in Frost, they don’t have to tell the Nebraska football team. Even the idea that the Huskers prized target could end up somewhere else could mean millions more on the final contract. For now, we continue to play the Chip Kelly waiting game so we can see where the dominos fall.