Report: Kelly scheduled meeting with Patriots after not landing Jags' OC job

Might one of football's most innovative offensive minds be lining up a job on Bill Belichick's coaching staff?

Chip Kelly had scheduled a meeting with the New England Patriots upon being passed over for the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator job this week, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports, citing a source.

Kelly, who served as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach for three years upon making the jump to the professional ranks in 2013, again finds himself looking for work after just one season in the same role with the San Francisco 49ers.

Mortensen's report suggests that, despite some speculation Kelly could return to the college level following the pair of underwhelming stops, the 53-year-old prefers to stay in the NFL.

While the offensive coordinator position in New England is spoken for with Josh McDaniels having removed himself from head coaching searches, it's certainly possible Kelly could be brought aboard as an adviser.

Such a role could give him the opportunity to position himself for a more prominent role either with the Patriots or another club at some point down the road.

Joining the league's premier coaching staff would certainly be a strong step in beginning to work his way back up the coaching ranks, and an already lethal Patriots offense has the potential to become all the more dangerous if it can add some of Kelly's unique concepts to the playbook.