Chip Kelly, never a fan of the media as a coach, now a member of the media
Chip Kelly is the latest coach to go from the sideline to the television studio. He was hired Friday by ESPN in an analyst’s capacity.
Kelly, who was a smashing success at the collegiate level with Oregon but somewhat of a failure in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, will talk college football Saturdays and the pro game Sundays.
It’s an odd choice to say the least. While Kelly was described many ways during his coaching career, mostly for his 21st century approach to offense, “media-friendly” wasn’t thrown around very often. If anything, he was a bit on the prickly side more often than not. Most reporters found him downright difficult to deal with, really.
But Kelly’s star has faded recently. He apparently needed a job, and the Worldwide Leader was happy to give him one.
“Over the last 30 years, I have experienced football from one perspective: as a coach,” Kelly said in a statement. “Working in television will allow me to see the game from a different angle.
Simultaneously, I’ll provide viewers an insight to the mindset of a coach and team while offering alternative views of various situations.”
The fact that Kelly is now out of the coaching profession, be it temporarily or permanently, would’ve been unthinkable not too long ago. He was one of the hottest commodities on the market when the Eagles pulled him away from the Ducks.
He didn’t exactly inherit a dynasty in Eugene. As a matter of fact, the program had never won 10 games in a season until former coach Mike Bellotti finally did so in 2000. Kelly took over for Bellotti in 2009 and proceeded to go 46-7 in four years, including within one win of a national championship in 2010.
It makes sense that Kelly will be used more for college football coverage than the NFL since he had most of his success there.
“Once I decided to make the move to TV, my familiarity with ESPN, combined with their high-quality production and vital role in college football, it was easily the best network suited for me,” he said.
Emphasizing his hurry-up approach to offense with the Eagles, he went 10-6 in his first two seasons. The City of Brotherly Love soured on him quickly, though. Kelly didn’t even finish out the 2015 campaign, fired with a mark of 6-9.
Not only did the rest of the league catch up with his offensive scheme quickly, but he never seemed to have control of his own locker room. It was quarterback Michael Vick who mended the fences after receiver Riley Cooper was caught on video in a racist rant at a concert, not Kelly. He looked weak throughout that episode.
Perhaps Kelly will be better at explaining the game to viewers than he was answering questions at press conferences.
“Chip is one of the most innovative football minds of our generation,” Lee Fitting, ESPN’s senior coordinating producer, said in a statement. “As a coach, he saw the game from a unique perspective, never afraid to take an unconventional approach. We want him to bring that mentality to our college football coverage each week, offering fans a varying viewpoint outside of the conventional thought process.”
The 49ers pounced on Kelly after he was jettisoned by Philly. However, he lasted just one year in San Francisco before getting the axe at 2-14.
Again, Kelly seemed oblivious to the social structure of his own roster. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the most controversial figure in recent NFL memory by kneelng for the national anthem in protest.
Nobody doubts Kelly’s mastery of offense. He’s one of the most forward thinkers that the game has produced the last generation or so. College programs from sea to shining sea these days are obsessed with speed and running as many plays as possible to tire out defenses. Kelly was ahead of the curve on that movement.
Two books have been written about him and his philosophy. One referred to Kelly’s football revolution as “controlled chaos.”
But away from the field, if you’ll pardon the pun, he’s an odd duck. ESPN senior writer Ted Miller once described Kelly as “funny, biting, pithy, strange, fiery and surprising” when forced to interact with reporters.
He went out of his way to make his players as unavailable as possible at Oregon. Contractually obligated once by a bowl game to produce a few of them to answer questions from those covering the event, Kelly sent out a couple of backups that would never see the field instead of, say, then-quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Plus, Oregon was sanctioned by the NCAA as a result of the Kelly regime, which resulted in an 18-month show-cause penalty.
Kelly is a lot of things, but a warm and bubbly personality he’s not. Maybe his testiness will hibernate now that his role has changed. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I heard that he was going to TV.
He never seemed to enjoy his time on camera, much like New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Nobody sees a microphone in The Hoodie’s future, of course. Fans have assumed that Kelly would go back to college since he seems to be a better fit there. Either he doesn’t feel the same way, or the right opportunity hasn’t materialized yet.
That old adage rings true again, I suppose. Kelly couldn’t beat ’em, so he joined ’em. Welcome to the business, Coach. Remember us?