Nike co-founder and notable University of Oregon donor and alum Phil Knight joined 49ers head coach Chip Kelly on the sidelines as an invited guest for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.
Knight and Kelly became good friends during Kelly’s tenure as the head coach of the University of Oregon from 2009 to 2012. The invite could be nothing more than an amiable gesture, but the timing will certainly give some pause, especially with CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reporting earlier this week that several people he’s talked to expect Kelly to make the jump back to college football next season.
In that report, Oregon was listed as a possible destination for Kelly, along with LSU, Texas and Penn State.
Knight has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the University of Oregon and it’s athletic programs over the years, and is a consistent presence at Oregon football games.
“Phil’s usually at every game, sometimes last year he’d shake my hands before the games,” said 49ers defensive end and Oregon alum DeForest Buckner. “He’d wish me good luck and stuff like that. I saw him up in the box when they were playing Cal (on Friday).”
Buckner said Kelly was not with Knight at Friday’s game.