Posted by: Josh Kendall on January 30, 2013

Time will tell if Chip Kelly's plan to transition from college football to the NFL will work, but one thing already is clear. He's starting off much differently than the last coach to make the jump.

When Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano made the move from Rutgers last season, he surrounded himself with familiar faces from the Scarlet Knights staff.

Schiano hired six of his Rutgers assistants with the Buccaneers (Brian Angelichio, Bob Fraser, Phil Galiano, Jeff Hafley, Tem Lukabu and PJ Fleck), and offensive line coach Kyle Flood almost certainly would have joined Schiano if Flood hadn't gotten the head coaching job at Rutgers. Schiano also brought in Rutgers strength coach Jay Butler.

Kelly, on the other hand, has been searching far and wide to fill his coaching staff and has brought only one on-field coach from Oregon - defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro. Kelly did bring two administrative assistants from Oregon to the NFL in assistant director of football operations Josh Gibson and former student development specialist James Harris.

It's not that Kelly has shied away from hiring college coaches. He brought in Virginia offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor to coach quarterbacks and former Boston College defensive coordinator Bill McGovern to coach linebackers.

Former Kentucky defensive coordinator Rick Minter has also joined the Eagles' staff.

It's important to remember, and kind of hard to believe, that this really is Kelly's first chance to build a complete coaching staff. The Oregon job was his first head coaching job and after being promoted to replace former boss Mike Bellotti, he retained most of Bellotti's coaching staff.

Kelly still has several hires to make to complete his Philadelphia staff.

Stay tuned to the Coaching Search Ticker for the latest coaching transactions.

---------------

Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com