Kelly trying to recapture magic at UCLA
Can coach be as good five years after Oregon?
LOS ANGELES – As enigmatic as always, if not more than ever, Chip Kelly held court with reporters for just under four minutes before sprinting back across the white lines to conduct the latest practice of UCLA’s spring. Every major media outlet, and probably all the smaller ones, has asked to get Kelly one-on-one since his arrival this past winter, to no avail. Maybe later, after Kelly gets settled in and gets comfortable.
For now, the four-odd-minute snippets will be the closest anyone outside of this program gets to a peek into the process. But Thursday morning’s practice felt familiar, though it was hard not to be jarred by the sight of Kelly not only back on a college field but in UCLA’s timeless blue and gold, not Oregon’s neon-flashed green and yellow. The outfit of gym shorts, a pullover and a visor rang a bell, though.
Kelly’s still not on social media. Any nuggets that slip through Kelly’s filter are helpful, though not particularly illuminating. Greg Rogers is “out with an injury right now,” Kelly said when asked about the sophomore defensive tackle. What about tight end Jimmy Jaggers? “Same.” And linebacker Mique Juarez, also an injury? “Yeah.”
His practices still move at a quick tempo, if not yet quite to Kelly’s preferred pace. Drill, whistle, drill, whistle, water break. Players hop through a circuit, scooping up fumbles and shedding blocks on defense and working on proper ball handling and a two-minute drill
on offense.
If there’s any less secrecy surrounding Kelly’s program than in the past — Oregon was famous, or maybe infamous, for the clamps it put on the Ducks’ mode of operation — it’s probably due to the deck of a parking lot overlooking Spaulding Field, which allows anyone in town to come by and watch practice in its entirety.
“We’re still really, really early in the process. Let’s just evaluate everything,” Kelly said. “Everybody is just trying to learn what we do and how we play, and we’ll figure that all out when we get ready for our opener. Whether you’re in the NFL or in college, they all want to be great. So they’re all trying to work as hard as they can and be the best versions of themselves.”
If not as successful as Nick Saban, to name one coaching contemporary, Kelly’s impact on the college game cannot be overstated. He was a mammoth change agent for the sport, legitimizing a breakneck offensive style and pace that influenced the way offenses and programs are run on all levels of competition — even in the NFL, though Kelly’s overall record might suggest otherwise. In some shape or form, Kelly’s model is imitated at every program in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Now he’s back, and it’s anyone’s educated guess how this tenure will go. His track record as a college coach is nearly unimpeachable, when it comes to wins and losses, at least. Oregon reached the equivalent of a New Year’s Six bowl in each of his four seasons, including a close loss to Auburn in the 2011 national title game. He’s everything his successor, Jim Mora, was not: a proven winner in the college ranks with a proven design for building a powerhouse.
This year’s team, like its new head coach, is a bit of an enigma. But being unpredictable is better than the alternative. For all the annual hype, UCLA has been stale for decades. Not anymore. But the game has adapted. His approach is no longer the outlier but, by and large, the standard. His offense might be different than it was, though that won’t be known until September. One branch of his coaching tree, first-year Nebraska head coach Scott Frost, has imbued Kelly’s offense with a Midwestern feel.
On a bigger scale, Kelly’s tenure at UCLA might end up the case study to a question: Can what worked five years ago still work today, or do styles on offense and otherwise need to be tweaked, retooled, even reinvented?
“At first it was difficult, because of the new stuff coming in,” defensive lineman Keisean Lucier-South said. “But now we’re getting used to it. It’s been good for us. We’re more disciplined. We’re more as a team, more family.”
Pace and tempo are the buzzwords. Major change is underway. Maybe the defensive scheme isn’t too different than what was in place; Lucier-South’s role on the edge still holds the same responsibilities, for example. But the offense is being torn apart and remade. One day the Bruins worked on a tripleoption setup. Another day it was the outside zone. The route tree has changed. Signals, speed, personnel, formation, mentality — all new.
Players were fully aware of Kelly’s reputation when he was hired. They knew what he achieved at Oregon and had some idea of what to expect with the start of winter conditioning. There have been no real surprises — Kelly has
“Whether you’re in the NFL or in college, they all want to be great. So they’re all trying to work as hard as they can and be the best versions of themselves.” Chip Kelly UCLA coach
been as advertised, if on an even greater scale than players could have imagined.
“Coach Kelly wants it a certain way,” tight end Jordan Wilson said. “Of course, we’re going to do it that way.”