The landscape of college football has been changing so rapidly over the years, that there are few news stories anymore that are truly surprising.
Stanford and California playing as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference? Sure, why not? Oregon and Washington traveling to New Jersey to face Rutgers in conference games? I guess it makes sense.
But a head coach of one Big Ten team leaving to become a coordinator for another Big Ten team?
I can’t say I’ve seen that one many times before.
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That’s the path that former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly recently chose to take, leaving the Bruins to take over as the new offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes. While this move may not be directly newsworthy for the Oregon Ducks other than the fact that it involves a beloved former head coach, it will certainly impact them going forward, destabilizing one of their conference rivals in the short term while offering a huge boost for a new conference rival in the long term.
It’s an interesting move for Kelly, who was the HC at UCLA for six years after spending several years in the NFL following his wildly successful stint in Eugene.
Was it a difficult decision to take a step back on the coaching ladder, though? That’s something that Zachary Neel recently talked to Oregon legend Jonathan Stewart about on the latest episode of the Sco-ing Long Podcast.
“Do you really think that was a hard decision for (Chip Kelly) to go?” Stewart posited. “That was definitely an easy decision. You’re going to the Big Ten. The Big Ten is about to be larger than life next year. You’re going to be able to have a team that’s already been there and is established. As far as being a part of the powerhouse, you are now part of that.”
While Kelly was already part of the Big Ten with his spot atop the UCLA coaching tree, the move to Ohio State better situates him for future success, with the Buckeyes entering the 2024 season as one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
“As far as their strengths go and as far as development goes, you don’t really have to develop much going into next year,” Stewart said. “You can go in there and ride the wave, and then put your marking on it. I think that is clearly an easy win.”
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Another thing to consider when evaluating this decision for Kelly is ultimately what his aspirations are. For someone who wants to be a big-time college football coach, or potentially an NFL coach once again, then it may be seen as a step-down, going from a Power 4 head coach to an offensive coordinator. However, if you are considering quality of life, and a desire to simply coach football and not have to deal with recruiting and the unending aspect of the transfer portal, then this is a move that makes sense for Kelly.
“Part of this thing with Chip is that he hated recruiting,” Neel said. “I think he wanted to get away from the transfer portal and recruiting, and he wanted to go somewhere that he could just coach ball. That’s all he has to do at Ohio State because they’ve got a recruiting machine there.”
During his time at Oregon, Kelly was known for being one of the best offensive minds in the world of college football, and he helped revolutionize the game with his spread offense being copied from college all the way to the NFL. Pairing him with the talent that the Buckeyes have is definitely something that should be a cause for concern in Eugene, especially if he doesn’t have aspirations to level up in the coaching world, and simply wants to stick around and coach ball for years to come.
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“They get some of the best players in the nation, so he can just draw up X’s and O’s,” Neel said. “I’m just curious to see what his aspirations are. Does he want to be a head coach again? Does he want to be an NFL coordinator? Or is he just happy to be the Ohio State offensive coordinator for the next 15 years? I think that’s the scariest answer. If he is just happy drawing up these plays for one of the best teams in the nation, I think Oregon fans should be a little bit worried.”
We will see what the dynamic with Kelly as an OC at Ohio State looks like this fall, and it will be great to see him back on the sideline in Eugene once again when the Buckeyes travel to take on Oregon in October.
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