The Eagles’ coaching search took a sharp left turn Wednesday night when reports surfaced that the team has expressed interest in Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly.

Kelly interviewed with the Birds on Tuesday, one day after the Fighting Irish were blown out by Alabama, 42-14, in the BCS title game.

Of all the candidates who have been linked to the Eagles – and there have now been 11 total – Kelly is perhaps the most surprising name. He said as recently as last week that leaving was “not an option.” But as we know by now, what coaches say and what they do can be two different things.

So the obvious question is this: Is Kelly just leveraging NFL interest into a more favorable deal at Notre Dame? We’ve already seen Bill O’Brien and Chip Kelly interview with NFL teams before going back to their respective college gigs. Is Brian Kelly doing the same thing?