SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- One of the first questions Oregon Ducks coach Chip Kelly was asked after arriving in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl was about the possibility of coaching in the NFL.
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The are-you-going-to-the-NFL questions haven't let up in the five days since and only figure to pick up after seven NFL coaches were fired Monday.
Deflection has been Kelly's defense since the rumors started, and it was no different after all those NFL openings cropped up.
"I've got a game to play," Kelly said during the Fiesta Bowl's media day on Monday. "We're playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That's the biggest thing in my life. If I allowed other things to get into my life, then they would be distractions, but there aren't. Our focus 100 percent is on the Fiesta Bowl."
Kelly has been an intriguing candidate for NFL teams for a few years.
The speculation over the past few years has been that Kelly has his eye on an NFL job and he even talked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year before saying he had unfinished business in Eugene.
"My heart is to win today and that's it," Kelly said. "I know everybody wants to hear a different answer. And I know that at times when I don't give you guys the answer that you guys want, then I'm being evasive. I'm not being evasive."
"My whole thing since I've been here is that I'm going to do the best job I can every single day," Kelly said. "If that's good enough that other people look at me sometimes, I don't really care about that. I think too many people live in the future. We live in the moment."
Kelly is reported to be the top candidate to replace Pat Shurmur with the Cleveland Browns and would be a popular choice for the Philadelphia Eagles now that Andy Reid is gone. The Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs also are without coaches and could come calling.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
