Eugene, Ore. ? Oregon athletic officials were so convinced that Chip Kelly was destined to be head coach of the Ducks they offered him the job before it came open.

Smart move.

In just his second season leading Oregon, Kelly is taking the second-ranked Ducks to the national championship game on Jan. 10 against No. 1 Auburn — and for that he was voted AP Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

Kelly received 24 votes from the 60-member AP football poll panel to beat out his BCS title game counterpart, Gene Chizik of Auburn, who received 17 votes.

Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh was third with five votes, TCU’s Gary Patterson, last year’s winner, and Mark Dantonio of Michigan State each received three votes. Getting one vote apiece were Nevada’s Chris Ault, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Miami, Ohio’s Mike Haywood, who led the school to a Mid-American Conference championship before taking the top job at Pittsburgh last week.

One voter abstained and four did not return ballots.

Kelly has made a rapid rise from I-AA coordinator in New England to leading the Pac-10’s new powerhouse program to within a victory of its first national championship.