Coach Chip Kelly's current team, the Philadelphia Eagles, will continue to take shape at next month's training camp. Meanwhile, his former team, the Oregon Ducks, will be dealing with its punishment.
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The NCAA on Wednesday placed Oregon's football program on probation for three years and took away a pair of scholarships -- one each over the next two seasons -- for recruiting violations during Kelly's watch, John Marshall of The Associated Press reported. The relatively minor punishment does not include a bowl ban.
The NCAA's Division I Infractions Committee on Wednesday also released its report, finding that Kelly and the university failed to properly monitor the program.
"I want to apologize to the University of Oregon, all of its current and former players and their fans," Kelly said in a statement released Wednesday, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties. As I have I stated before, the NCAA investigation and subsequent ruling had no impact on my decision to leave Oregon for Philadelphia."
An NFL spokesman told McLane on Wednesday, "We are not familiar with the details at this point and prefer not to comment."
The NCAA also reduced Oregon's official paid recruiting visits from 56 to 37 for the next three academic years and installed a show-cause order for Kelly. That means any school hoping to hire the coach away from the Eagles must appear before the NCAA infractions committee to "determine if the school should be subject to the show-cause procedures," per The AP.
Oregon had been under investigation by the NCAA in connection to a $25,000 payment in 2010 to Willie Lyles and Complete Scouting Services, a Houston-based recruiting service. Lyles, at the time, had connections to an Oregon recruit. The NCAA found that Lyles provided free lodging and cash to a prospect.
The NCAA ruled that Kelly wasn't aware of Lyles' actions but pointed out that, as head coach, Kelly was responsible for ensuring his program was in compliance. Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was promoted to head coach in January after Kelly accepted the Eagles job.
Will this have any effect on Kelly's rebuilding project in Philly? Not for a second.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
