If Chip Kelly were the Julius Caesar of football, or more importantly of Oregon football, then that would make Mario Cristobal Caesar Augustus. If you are not already aware of the magnificent FishDuck Repository, you should take a look at it. It has some great articles concerning the Men of Oregon, and today we are going to look at one that is near and dear to all of us for what he did for the Oregon football program: Chip Kelly.
Kelly, the brilliant general who outwitted most of his opponents. Kelly, the Julius Caesar of the Oregon Football Program. Are Chip Kelly and Julius Caesar more similar than both of them being fantastic commanders in their respective fields?
For those who haven’t had any Roman history lately, Julius Caesar was a Roman general who famously crossed the Tiber river and started a Civil War within the Roman Republic. Caesar won the war and was named dictator for life, not emperor. Caesar would later be assassinated on the floor of the senate by many senators who opposed him, bringing the life of an incredible military leader to a tragic end.
Wikipedia
A 19th Century painting by Vincenzo Camucccini depicting the death of Julius Caesar
Chip Kelly was absolutely brilliant at Oregon. Like Rome in the time of Caesar, the program was already on an upward trajectory when he took charge, after the Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti eras rebuilt the team and began to build a national brand for Oregon with the help of Phil Knight and Nike. However, Kelly’s strength was in play-calling and making an offense that always seemed to find a way to win. Kelly’s ascent to the football coaching elite was expedited by a 46-7 record at Oregon.
However, Kelly’s story after Oregon hasn’t been so pretty. He started his four-year NFL coaching career with two winning seasons, then followed those with two losing seasons. His final season was with the San Francisco 49ers where he went 2-14, and he then returned to college football at UCLA, where his struggles continue.
What made these two individuals successful was their support staffs that allowed them to do what they were good at. In both of their cases, what they were good at was on-field strategy, whether on the football field or the battlefield.
Gary Breedlove
Scott Frost and Nick Aliotti were key members of Kelly’s support staff at Oregon.
At Oregon, Kelly had a long-established coaching staff around him, with a defensive coordinator in Nick Aliotti that built a defense to complement the blur offense. Caesar had his closest commanders around him on his campaigns, who knew him and how he operated. In both cases the support staffs knew what their leaders wanted from them, and were able to execute their respective plans to near perfection.
We will never know what Julius Caesar was like as a ruler of Rome, as he was assassinated on the senate floor. However, we are confronted with an equally tragic story of Chip Kelly and his fall. Everything worked for Kelly at Oregon. It was a mixture of the perfect timing for a revolutionary new offense and having a supporting staff who are Oregon legends themselves.
So far, Chip Kelly has not shown that he can recreate what he did at Oregon. College football head coaches today are more emperors than field commanders. They are required to recruit both assistant coaches and players. Football is a people business, and Kelly has shown time and time again that he is far more comfortable with X’s and O’s than people.
Kevin Cline
Chip Kelly preparing before a game against Oregon.
Kelly required buy-in from his players. When you are winning it is easy to get that buy-in; when you are losing it is much more difficult. Kelly also has a track record of not getting along and not connecting with his players, especially at the NFL level. More recently, that distrust has continued at UCLA. It’s easy to wonder how much Kelly’s interpersonal relationships were held together by the Oregon coaching staff.
Julius Caesar arguably did worse outside the comfort of his legion, since he died! Famously Brutus, who was concerned about Caesar’s power grab, plotted with other concerned senators — successfully — to assassinate Caesar. Caesar wasn’t able to build the relationships he needed in order to succeed. Kelly hasn’t shown he can do any better.
As Oregon fans we will forever be grateful for what Chip Kelly has done for Oregon Football. Is Chip Kelly doomed to the fate of a has-been football coach, or can he turn away from the Caesar tragedy and make himself anew?
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo by: Kaly Harward
Bob Rodes, the FishDuck.com Volunteer editor for this article, is an IT analyst, software developer and amateur classical pianist in Manchester, Tennessee.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.
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Interesting article.
My opinions on Chip Kelly are fairly strong:::
He was an innovator and a gun slinger. Ahead of the curve on offensive philosophy and 4th down conversions.
But, as is often the case with savants, his weaknesses have led to his undoing:::
1. Poor personal skills… whether with boosters, the media or even his own players, his brusque manner has prevented him from consolidating his earned successes and building a juggernaut.
2. An absolutely abject failure at recruiting. Yes, he’s had limited success in finding diamonds in the rough and then coaching them up. But that is a poor substitute for a unified and dedicated plan for increasing the overall talent pool of your team.
3. Kelly’s stubborn intransigence about bringing back a cohesive version of what made him initially successful::: the Blur. He’s stated that it’s no longer an innovative offensive scheme and is easily defended against.
Really?!
And the plodding, low scoring crap that Kelly is putting on the field at UCLA is wowing/confusing teams in the Pac12 now?
Lolol
Anyway, tell that to Clemson. They have literally stolen Kelly’s Oregon offense and have revolutionized their program from also-rans to champions in 6 years.
Seems to me that Chip Kelly let his ego and eggshell feelings take a ding from the “gimmick offense” label that was thrown around about 5-6 years ago. And now he’s doing everything he can to distance himself from it.
The problem is – ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya!
The Blur is what got him here. And now he’s turned his back on it.
No wonder UCLA fans/boosters/players feel like they’ve been duped by Kelly::::
They paid for an innovative genius.
But they got an unoriginal plodder instead.
…..
Interesting article.
My opinions on Chip Kelly are fairly strong:::
He was an innovator and a gun slinger. Ahead of the curve on offensive philosophy and 4th down conversions.
But, as is often the case with savants, his weaknesses have led to his undoing:::
1. Poor personal skills… whether with boosters, the media or even his own players, his brusque manner has prevented him from consolidating his earned successes and building a juggernaut.
2. An absolutely abject failure at recruiting. Yes, he’s had limited success in finding diamonds in the rough and then coaching them up. But that is a poor substitute for a unified and dedicated plan for increasing the overall talent pool of your team.
3. Kelly’s stubborn intransigence about bringing back a cohesive version of what made him initially successful::: the Blur. He’s stated that it’s no longer an innovative offensive scheme and is easily defended against.
Really?!
And the plodding, low scoring crap that Kelly is putting on the field at UCLA is wowing/confusing teams in the Pac12 now?
Lolol
Anyway, tell that to Clemson. They have literally stolen Kelly’s Oregon offense and have revolutionized their program from also-rans to champions in 6 years.
Seems to me that Chip Kelly let his ego and eggshell feelings take a ding from the “gimmick offense” label that was thrown around about 5-6 years ago. And now he’s doing everything he can to distance himself from it.
The problem is – ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya!
The Blur is what got him here. And now he’s turned his back on it.
No wonder UCLA fans/boosters/players feel like they’ve been duped by Kelly::::
They paid for an innovative genius.
But they got an unoriginal plodder instead.
Humm, “plodding low scoring crap”; would that be the PLSC that in 2019 put up 29 points in the 4th quarter against WSU – in Pullman – to win 67-63 in regulation time (no OTs)? The same Cougar squad that the Ducks needed a late field goal to defeat – in Eugene – 37-35?
Or that beat Stanford, in Palo Alto 34-16, while UO only beat them there 21-6.
Or beat ASU 42-32, a team that, yeah, we lost to 28-31.
For 2019 UCLA averaged 30.5 points per game in their 9 Pac12 conference games, with two rough losses to good defensive teams (3-49 @ Utah; 18-28 v Cal) to counter the 67 they put up in Pullman.
Kelly was able to retain, and add to, the 2018 class (#18 Rivals) that Mora’s staff had started. Included was QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) who only had a single high school season’s experience at the QB position. His true freshman year, 2018, DTR was an injury replacement starter for a handful of games, and had his struggles. In 2019 he was vastly improved, but still ran hot and cold.
For this 2020 mini season Chip will have de facto 1 year starter DTR, plus highly touted, but star crossed Colson Yankoff in his QB group, that also includes RS FR freshman Chase Griffin, and true FR Parker McQuarrie. Griffin an undersized (5’10”), but wildly productive star out of Texas, and McQuarrie a plus sized (6’7″) pro style guy from New Hampshire. Kelly will have some legit options for the first time in Westwood.
Chip has certainly underwhelmed @ UCLA, but I don’t see him, or his performance, as the train wrecks others do. Belichick and Saban like and respect him, and that’s not nothing. I think Chip will be able to make things interesting in 2020, and more likely than not, in 2021.
I say “amen” to everything you wrote, and your concluding line is a dandy!
Please keep commenting and join us on the new forum in a week.
Completely agree… And I honestly do believe there will be an opportunity for him to reinvent himself and have another shot at innovation… It just won’t be as a head coach.
I think kelly really learned the wrong lessons from the nfl. The nfl has become super pass heavy and his run first spread offense did ok for a couple years but he never had the qb he needed to make it work.
So the lessons he pulled from the nfl was basically speed doesn’t work (and in truth speed alone isnt as effective.as it used to be) and running needs to be done as raw power .. which isn’t true on the college level.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2020/10/16/nick-saban-alabama-coach-covid-19-georgia/3679726001/
Alabama’s Nick Saban could coach against Georgia, despite positive COVID-19 test this week. Here’s how.
OH MY!
However, with the game not kicking off until 8 tomorrow night, if Nick tests negative tomorrow morning, as he has on Thursday and Friday, and being asymptomatic, it will be deemed a false positive and he will be on the sideline.
Nevertheless, I got down at -4.5.
Hank Stram vs the Vikings is Super Bowl III – ‘It’s like stealing boys!’
I’ll go with that. For now, Georgia & Kirby are suffering little brother-itus big time when it comes to Alabama and Nick, and all this attention on Saban, I think increases Alabama’s focus. Here is something to chew on though, courtesy of: https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs
Alabama is averaging 175.3 rushing yards per game, Georgia is allowing 38.3 yards per game.
Thanks 30. Good stuff. UGA has yet to play a team with Bama’s run/pass balance. Should be a fantastic match up of great O vs great D.
Thanks for the link 30Duck.
This begs the question “why ??” – – – all the the love of money of course. Find a loophole no matter who might be hurt because of it.
My thought precisely….
He’s asymptomatic. If he tests clean 3 days in a row after testing positive the initial positive is deemed to be a false positive.
Whens the last time UCLA football was relevant? 2013-2014 under Mora. Before than it was 2005 under Doral. Before that it was 1997-98 under Toledo. OUt of 32 years UCLA only had 5 seasons where they were relevant. The rest of the time they’ve been in the 7-5 range give or take. Chip could still be great at coaching but it may take more than a great coach to make UCLA into something other than a basketball school. His lackadaisical approach to recruiting doesn’t help. UCLA’s irrelevance doesn’t help either.
Terry Donahue actually did a good job at UCLA, 151-74-8, 1976-95. 10-9-1 vs. USC.
Kelly took Philly to the playoffs and brought innovation to the NFL that’s
now pretty common like RPOs. His demise began when he became GM and got rid of divas like DeSean Jackson. At SF, he inherited a dumpster fire but did max out Kaepernick’s play and supported him during his protest.
He was way ahead of the NFL in that regard and the owners should have followed suit. At UCLA, he’s played a brutal non-confidence schedule. His conference record I believe is 1 win less than ASU during the same time frame as Herm Edwards. He had the youngest squad by a large margin the last two years after cleaning house.
Recruiting is his weak spot. He’s not going to bend over backwards for players or put on a show like MC. UCLA is a top academic institution and IMO he’s going after Stanford like players, guys that that handle their business in the classroom and off the field. He may not be a top general but he knows offense inside out and his play-calling is tremendous.
Lots of excellent points. So many folks utterly dismiss what Chip did his first season in Philly, and what he had going his 2nd year until his resurrected QB, Foles, went down. He had a serpent for a GM who was always in the owner’s ear; it was like Disney cartoon bad guys.
SF was a train wreck roster that probably should have been avoided, so yeah, you can blame Chip for an over-reach there. Chip has the best QB room since coming to LA and I expect him to win some he shouldn’t this year, but maybe lose some too.
The free Covid year will be a big plus for his still very young roster, so I wouldn’t be surprised with a bowl game in 2021, & maybe even this year (haven’t looked at their schedule).
This year looks good for a Bowl since every team is eligible regardless of their record.
Yep, the six win requirement does not fit conferences that only play seven games! To think that a 3-4 team from the Pac-12 could go? A three-win team?
It could happen…
It is a shame that Chip’s ego won’t let him be an offensive coordinator. That is were he could be truly successful.
He was pretty good for Bellotti, but it is quite a step back for him. Perhaps if he is fired again his pride will handle it?
That could come by the end of this year.
I was listening to a podcast about SEC football recently and specifically covering the atrocity that has been SEC defense this year. If you haven’t noticed Ole miss, ran by head coach Lane Kiffin, is currently on an offensive terror. sure they are 1-2 but their lowest score to date against some top SEC defenses is 35(Florida). the put up 48 points in a loss against #2 Bama last week. In a game in which Bama’s defense looked lost confused and incapable.
While Chip didn’t create the spread offense, he modernized it, he speed it up, and he made it manufacturable. Chip didn’t need elite talent to run his offense, Oregon hardly had elite talent at WR or OL in his tenure. Yet he racked a 46-7 record. Now at this point every team in the country NFL, college, high school, and youth is using his concepts.
The reason I brought up the Ole miss, while they haven’t won much they are proving again that this offense is unstoppable and the only reason they haven’t won is because the other teams are running the same offense.
The commentator’s point, Although he didn’t bring up Chip, was that this offense is near impossible to stop. That historically every elite defense had one thing in common, elite level defensive line play. This offense will always remove the line from contention if played correctly. I think yesterday’s post describes this eloquently in how by reading the box you can either get rid of the ball quickly over the top or it allows you to read DE’s/LB’s and ‘remove’ one player from the game entirely.
Now I’d still love to have chip as a play caller, but his insistence on not using his oregon playbook is baffling. It is also reassuring that Cristobal went out and hired a fantastic play caller who is pretty intent on running the QB and having a spread offense.
The part about your post that got me was, “this offense is near impossible to stop,” as Cristobal dumped the majority of it to establish his own identity. The Oregon offense that so many teams have duplicated, including National Champions was discarded….
Let’s hope Joe Moorhead can bring back upper-level scoring to match the superb defense built by Andy Avalos and the recruiting of the Mario Cristobal staff.
That is why I really feel the McClendon hire at Oregon is so important especially when paired with he Moorhead hire. The receiver position has restrained what the offense can really do… so upgrading recievers via recruiting, coaching and scheme will do a ton in upgrading Oregon’s offense.
This year if Oregon is going to get into the playoff they are going to need to put up a lot of points. They will need to win dominantly.
Other side note… this year’s offensive line, though lacking in experience, are physically a lot bigger. I am excited to see what this does to the offense. One of the biggest weaknesses in Oregon’s past two national championship appearances has been the inability to run the football.
This year will see Cristobal’s power run game AND a high flying more spread oriented offense?
I’m actually really confident in our Oline, is it possible they loss us a game. no doubt but overall no team in the pac 12 has the same level of coaching(at the position) and recruiting. Since Cristobal, Oregon is the only team in the pac 12 recruiting a 4 star average. the only teams close in recruiting are Washington and USC.
If it comes to coaching i will take Mirabel over Huff and Drevno any day of the week. Neither of these guys can develop talent.
Another site is saying that internally–the coaches like the “gelling” of the offensive line, and that from a power and athleticism standpoint–this group could actually be better. But nobody is better than Sewell, and at this point it is “upside” due to the lack of experience.
But it is nice to know that the talent is there to polish…
I mean sewell is and was a generational talent. One sac allowed and one penalty in like 20 starts. It is unheard of.
My guess is Jones gets the left tackle spot. And while he may not be a sewell my guess is he is a better replacement than like 90% of what the conference even has to offer.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen (and women) here is my best guess at the teams best deserving of your hard earned denarius this weekend.
UGA at Bama -4.5. I liked Bama at -6.5. Nick will be watching at home, thus the 2 point drop. I love Bama at -4.5. UGA’s D has played against Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee. The highest rated O in this group is Auburn at 33. I do not think the Dawgs D can hold up against the Bama O and I expect the Bama D, versus a lesser passing attack than Kiffin brings to the table, will rebound.
UNC -13 at FSU – The Seminoles do not play in The Swamp, but FSU is playing like swamp rats and the UNC O looks to be legit. Take the Tar Heels, and the on-line courses.
Pitt +13.5 at Miami – Two tough and close, back-to-back Ls for Pitt. I do not think the Pitt D line controls the LOS as effectively as did the Clemson DL, but it is salty enough IMO, to keep this game close. Panthers get another L, but cover.
YTD ATS – 2-0.
Go forth and prosper.
PS – Do miss the B12’s only game of the week and thus, FOX Network’s Game of the Week – W VA vs Kansas. Think FOX will be happy to see the B1G back next week?
Good stuff as always JJ; Cheers! I think I may follow Pitt/Miami with an early happy hour for TAMU @ Starkvegas 1 PM PDT tomorrow, to watch Jimbo fence with the Pirate on ESPN. Maybe a road trap game for the Aggies after their big FL win, but I’m also curious to see how Bulldogs respond to being called out, and whether Costello can adjust to what defenses are doing and take what’s available rather than try to force passes downfield with his big arm.
Aggies only giving up 5.0 – which seems low to me – but if I had some house money I’ll go over on the U/O of 55.5. Don’t think the MSU scoring slump will persist, but also think TAMU has figured out some things on offense. I’ll see!
Not sure Costello is still the starter? You know A+M unlike the baffled Bo Pelini who played man to man against the air raid, will rush 3 and drop 8.
This D has shut the O down 2 weeks in a row. So it will be fun to see if the O can come back to life.
A+M may be flat after Jimbo’s biggest win to date over Florida?
Good Luck!
What a whirlwind Chip created at Oregon. His sights were set on going to the NFL and he stepped away from a program that adored him. After his last bowl game he met with NFL owners and promptly left to chase his dream. Not many coaches get an opportunity to do that.
One factor that will keep Chip from attaining the success he had at Oregon is his communication style. Contrast that to what we have seen and heard from Cristobal, and it is night and day. When I listen to Cristobal talk football I can see why he connects with his team and recruits. After all, the team fully endorsed him to become head coach. Chip on the other hand did not like talking to reporters and when he did he was less than inspiring.
Good luck Chip. You changed the game of football. Not many coaches get an opportunity to do that.
Go Ducks
And to escape the ‘nightmare’ of recruiting.
And though the NFL seems like a better fit for Chip as he doesn’t have to recruit… he instead has to deal with adults who may not buy into his strict system. Which is exactly what happened. Recruiting high school kids for college gives kids the chance to self select and opt into a program of their choice (for the most part).
The NFL is working with adults who may or may not appreaciate the team’s culture and bringing them on board takes a different level of people skills.
Chip doesn’t have “people skills”. When he was in the NFL he acted more like a dictator with a “my way or the highway” attitude. Thus he is where he is.
When CK came to Oregon, the Ducks were a good team. And CK did not jump in as head coach, but as OC. So as HC he was not he was not trying to resuscitate a poor team. He took a good team and made it a great team. That’s no small accomplishment, but most likely easier than taking a not-very-good team and making it really good.
Absolutely! I am not convinced Kelly can turn a program around. He inherited an incredible staff and a well-oiled machine from Bellotti.
With his time in the NFL, one would think that Kelly would have developed some networking that would enable him to hire some of the best coaches out there for his support staff… but that has not happened.
He still has coach Azz following him from location to location. Pellum has joined him in LA. He wanted to bring Helfrich to LA with him but Helfrich declined. Kelly has really failed at creating his own coaching tree.
Your coaching tree observation is huge, and one I had not thought of until now. Nice catch.
Azz at UCLA, has pulled a “Pellum-at-Oregon” in that he was a great position coach, but not so hot as a DC.
One difference is that while Caesar was assassinated, Kelly unwittingly poisoned himself???
NICE! Asp Cleopatra?
Yeah… there are some things that don’t line up but the hope is no one is murdered because of football.
Unlike soccer in South America.
Outstanding David, such fun to read and ponder! The time Kelly was here was unique, and so was the coaching staff that would all be retired by now, hence I do not see a repeat of his magic experienced at Oregon.
Making it all happen is recruiting, and over the last two years along with this year’s verbals–the number of 4-Star and 5-Star players signed or verballed:
UCLA 8
Oregon 41
Chip Kelly underperformed in his recruiting at Oregon considering how we were a household name/brand at the time, and he is certainly underperforming recruiting at UCLA. In the three years of recruiting before Chip Kelly arrived at UCLA, the number of 4-Star and 5-Star players signed with the Bruins? (Using Rivals)
UCLA 32
Nice job, David, Caesar is a historical figure, known mostly however for his assassination. I believe that Chip will be remembered for the great stuff; 46-7, revolutionizing offenses, giving Oregon a swagger to go with its brand. I don’t think he will come near the success he had at Oregon at UCLA or anywhere else.
That’s not hating on Chip. Everything came together and worked, not to perfection unfortunately, at Oregon for Chip; and pretty much the opposite everywhere else. I don’t see a renaissance for Chip. His offense has become institutionalized and as you mentioned, his people skills worked as long as he was winning, but no so much during tough times.
Chip loves coaching football. It looks like he thought that it would be even better in the NFL, grown men, not student/athletes, no recruiting. So, it was surprising when he took on a front office role with the Eagles, overseeing the Player Personnel Department. Not surprising was that it didn’t go well. He was fired from Philly and it never worked in San Francisco. Now he’s back in the Pac-12, at a school known for its basketball teams, even though it hasn’t been great at that for quite a while now. I hope the best for Chip in the future.
I do think Chip will probably be picked up somewhere after UCLA as an Offensive Coordinator and he would do a fantastic job in that role. He may even innovate offenses again. He needs to deal with Xs and Os. He is a field-commander and not a Commander-in-Chief.
Saban makes good use of old HC´s.
Wouldn’t THAT be ironic?? Saban spoke out against CK’s offense, “Is this what we want football to be?” …only to hire him later as his field general???
And getting slam dunked in recruiting.
Fun analogy, thanks so much David.
I believe it was the Rubicon River, not the Tiber, that Caesar famously crossed and where the die was cast?
Roman generals were not allowed, except in the case of triumphs, to bring their troops into the nation of Rome. The Rubicon, more of a stream than a river, defined the border of Rome (like the Coliseum under Pete Carroll defined the Pac-12?) The Senate Patrician wing blocked the Plebian factor’s (the Senate was contentiously divided between the Patricians and the Plebeian factions – USC and the dwarfs?) attempt to award Caesar with a triumph for his conquering all of Gaul (refusal to match the offer of the ironically named, Eagles?)
In Gaul, Caesar was victorious (like Chip, veni, vidi, vici, he came, he saw, he conquered) despite being vastly outnumbered (Kelly winning without top drawer recruiting classes but with a most capable ‘Roman’ assistant commander, Nick Aliotti, at his side?) He accomplished victory far from Roman logistical support (Pac-12 Network and leadership vs ESecPN Network and SEC leadership?) Notwithstanding the Senate Patrician faction refusing to give Caesar a triumph, Caesar entered the Roman Republic with a single legion. With the help of the Plebeian faction (Ducks compared to USC?) he won, before he was assassinated by the Patrician faction, (Auburn and Cam?) dictatorial powers (Chip’s way or the highway?)
After a series of bloody civil wars (no offense) with lesser leaders. Brutus and Pompeii (Helrich and Willie?) being vanquished by Caesar’s adopted son, Caesar Augustus (UW?,) the Republic disappeared in favor of the Empire for better, Marcus Aurelius + Constantine (Mario and Avalos) and worse, Nero (Hoke’s D?)
Cicero and Cato (BDF and others?) both urgently warned Romans that the Senate (the Pac-12) was in grave danger of splintering along economic lines (The Trojans vs The Beavers?) No one listened. Failed leadership was allowed to remain in place (Larry?) and the Republic was lost (conference realignment?)
Wow Jon! You really took the gladius and ran with it.
My only question would be who you would cast as Marcus Agrippa? Chris Peterson perhaps?
Marcus Agrippa.
As the builder who marbled-up Rome, Mike Bellotti?
As the general who took down Marc Antony and Cleo (Coach Pete and Jen,) Chip plays himself?
Octavius could not have had a better wingman.
Wow, now that is writing with flair!
The original idea and first draft was if Chip Kelly was Julius Caesar that would make Mario Cristobal Caesar Augustus…
With the Helfrich (Mark Antony), Taggart (Lepidus, that guy was an ally of Caesar and Octavian/Augustus but was really just there), and 1st year of Cristobal (Octavian before he was Augustus) as the unstable era of the Triumvirate. However, that draft felt like it was getting the weeds. The Cristobal as Caesar Augustus idea really just became the Mario Cristobal is the Commander-in-Chief at Oregon article.
It could not have been a better finished product. Thanks again.
Sorry, along with Brutus + Pompeii (Kiffin and Sark?), I should have given Marc Antony and his gal, Cleopatra (Coach Pete and Jennifer Cohen?) their due.
Crap … why did I write Tiber? That’s by bad there.
However, he did have to cross the Tiber to take control of Rome… as the Tiber is in Rome. Though that was a less-than-famous crossing.
Jon, your writing defines our objective of being informative and yet entertaining. Such strong parallels!
Thank you, Mr. Emperor!
I am certain that when Mario wins a Natty you will throw one heck of a Triumph in Eugene. I volunteer to ride along on the chariot while whispering in Mario’s ear, ‘Remember, you are only a man.’ [I will need a foot stool.]
Hopefully, Nick, Dabo and Ryan Day will be among the exhibited prisoners. Along with Gus Malzahn cleaning up behind the elephants.
Thank you for a good look at Oregon’s past! You are spot on, especially in regards to Nick Aliota. Coach Aliota was, is, and will always be a player’s coach. He and his gang green were overshadowed by the blur offense. But his defense was instrumental in Oregon’s success! I’ve often wonder what it would have been like with Nick as head coach and Mark as offensive coordinator!
Aliota could not recruit well enough to produce a dominate defense only a so-so one. Mark also could not recruit so if you want to know what that team would be like, I would say it would be a total regression.
Maybe HC Aliotti would have brought Wilcox in as DC???
Thanks for correcting my spelling error! Nick Aliotti.