There seem to be a lot posters adamantly against Chip Kelly as a candidate for the USC job. And I have to admit I just don't get it.
Offensively, he use a spread-to-run offense that with the right personnel can be extremely physical. Just look at what Urban Meyer has done at Ohio State and Florida with basically the same offensive system. Personnel makes a huge difference. And in his four years as head coach at Oregon he never started a single OL that USC considered worthy of a scholarship offer.
I realize there are posters who would dismiss the difference in OL by claiming Kelly is a finesse coach who only wanted small OL that USC would never bother to recruit. But I watched last week's Eagles/Saints game to take a closer look at Kelly. What I saw was quite a bit of 12 personnel, Bradford under center, and getting Bradford out of the pocket on the bootleg. And I've never heard 2-TEs described as finesse. If anything, I'd say the NFL has shown Kelly understands the importance of controlling the LOS, and that he's able to adjust to different situations and personnel.
Defensively, the Oregon Ducks under Kelly played a hybrid defense that allowed them to shift from a 4-2-5 to a 3-4 eagle. But more than alignment, their defense was defined by man coverage behind a variety of pressure packages. They generally brought 5 or 6 guys on every play, and liked to overload their line to get an unblocked defender attacking the playside. When we beat Oregon in 2011 a lot of it was because we had a veteran QB in Barkley who understood when to check to a run play to exploit the uncovered gap on the backside. But beating Oregon's defense wasn't as simple as running the ball as their aggressive scheme had them always at or near the top of the conference in creating negative plays.
A team playing Oregon had opportunities to hit big plays in the passing game. But they also had to deal with pressure from a multitude of angles, and hope their receivers could beat man coverage on the outside before the blitzers got to the QB. And it's important to note that like with the offense, Kelly was doing this with no more than 2-3 guys USC thought worthy of an offer.
In conclusion, Kelly's system sounds a lot like what many on the board have been asking for. A physical run-first offense that seeks to control the LOS, and an attacking defense that let's our athletes play. So, I'm not so much advocating for Chip Kelly, or his system. But I am curious to know why so many posters seem set against him when he appears to offer a lot of what we say we want.
Offensively, he use a spread-to-run offense that with the right personnel can be extremely physical. Just look at what Urban Meyer has done at Ohio State and Florida with basically the same offensive system. Personnel makes a huge difference. And in his four years as head coach at Oregon he never started a single OL that USC considered worthy of a scholarship offer.
I realize there are posters who would dismiss the difference in OL by claiming Kelly is a finesse coach who only wanted small OL that USC would never bother to recruit. But I watched last week's Eagles/Saints game to take a closer look at Kelly. What I saw was quite a bit of 12 personnel, Bradford under center, and getting Bradford out of the pocket on the bootleg. And I've never heard 2-TEs described as finesse. If anything, I'd say the NFL has shown Kelly understands the importance of controlling the LOS, and that he's able to adjust to different situations and personnel.
Defensively, the Oregon Ducks under Kelly played a hybrid defense that allowed them to shift from a 4-2-5 to a 3-4 eagle. But more than alignment, their defense was defined by man coverage behind a variety of pressure packages. They generally brought 5 or 6 guys on every play, and liked to overload their line to get an unblocked defender attacking the playside. When we beat Oregon in 2011 a lot of it was because we had a veteran QB in Barkley who understood when to check to a run play to exploit the uncovered gap on the backside. But beating Oregon's defense wasn't as simple as running the ball as their aggressive scheme had them always at or near the top of the conference in creating negative plays.
A team playing Oregon had opportunities to hit big plays in the passing game. But they also had to deal with pressure from a multitude of angles, and hope their receivers could beat man coverage on the outside before the blitzers got to the QB. And it's important to note that like with the offense, Kelly was doing this with no more than 2-3 guys USC thought worthy of an offer.
In conclusion, Kelly's system sounds a lot like what many on the board have been asking for. A physical run-first offense that seeks to control the LOS, and an attacking defense that let's our athletes play. So, I'm not so much advocating for Chip Kelly, or his system. But I am curious to know why so many posters seem set against him when he appears to offer a lot of what we say we want.
