Chip Kelly to the Buccaneers makes no sense

The Philadelphia Eagles fired Chip Kelly yesterday, and he's already being linked to new teams. The coach wants to stay in the NFL, so one name that's likely to come up is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After all, Lovie Smith isn't entirely secure and the Bucs went after Kelly in 2012 -- only to see him back out at the very last minute.

Why this would make sense

The Glazers wanted Chip Kelly four years ago, and a strong minority of fans is clamoring for Lovie Smith to be fired.

That's it. That's the only reason this would make any sense.

Why this wouldn't make sense

While some fans want Lovie Smith fired, there's no indication that the Glazers are going to do so. Certainly they always play things close to the vest, but no reporters, national or local, expect the team's owners to actually move on from him. And if they don't move on from Smith, they can't hire Kelly.

More than that, Chip Kelly isn't really a good fit for the Bucs. They have an offense built for a strong running game and the deep ball, while Kelly relies on quickness to run his offense. Jameis Winston has been outstanding this year, but he isn't really what Kelly prefers in a quarterback: he's a little too deliberate in his movements and not the quick runner that Kelly prefers.

And then there's the fact that Kelly was fired in Philadelphia for a reason. Certainly he's had success there, but his offenses got worse from year to year, he ran out a lot of talented players, reports suggest he lost the support of at least some of the players in the locker room, and he apparently alienated the entire building. That's not the kind of thing you want to bring into a franchise that's trying to build itself up.

Finally, hiring Kelly would likely mean starting over -- on both sides of the ball. He's always run a 3-4 defense relying on versatile athletic defensive linemen, and a spread offense. The Bucs are set up for the exact opposite kinds of schemes on both sides of the ball.