It wasn’t going to happen, but if Chip Kelly could have returned to Oregon again–would you have wanted him back? This is an interesting question because a ton of people have declared that “FishDuck wants Chip Kelly back, and would have passed on Mario Cristobal.” I’ll give you my answer on that if you give me yours, and we can wonder together what could have been under Chip Kelly 2.0.
Let me offer my answer immediately since I’ve written about it in articles and comments so many times already. Chip Kelly instead of Mario Cristobal? Hard Pass.
It is hard to believe that people would accuse me of wanting Chip back with all I’ve written about the issues during the Kelly era, and when he left. Yet I understand it, since I also created videos of his offense that were viewed over two million times, and I believe that we have to have a high-scoring offense to win a ‘Natty. Thus, people assume I want Chip Kelly back.
Wrong.
While I have been critical of Cristobal and his offense, I have stated in articles many times that I want him at Oregon long-term for a ton of great reasons.
So, why not Chip Kelly?
Could you have pictured this again?
Where do we Start?
- He is disdainful of recruiting, and remains that way. On Rivals in the last three years, UCLA signed 10 4/5-Star players, while Oregon has an incredible 45! Good gosh! Chip’s recruiting at Westwood is worse than it was at Eugene!
- He lucked into a fantastic staff at Oregon, and has not shown he can attract the same talent at UCLA. (I thought this might be the case three years ago…)
- The alienation of the media in Oregon was the worst I could ever imagine. He so annoyed ESPN that every Oregon game they telecast had a three-minute explanation during a slow moment, detailing the “allegations” of recruiting improprieties. It turns out it was a slap on the hand later when the NCAA admitted they did not even have rules pertaining to Oregon’s situation. But it hurt recruiting, and ESPN did it because Chip torqued them off too many times.
- The other stories of his alienation of other media were legendary, and they were hurting Oregon Athletics.
- Chip angered many boosters and former players during his time here, and it took years to rebuild many of the bridges.
He was going to run the Zone-Read with Sam Bradford?
- As for the football part of it…would Chip have been as successful at Oregon after so many years later coming from the NFL? I think not, as he displayed some baffling tendencies in the pro game by acquiring quarterback statues like Matt Barkley, Nick Foles and Sam Bradford. It was as if he wanted to prove he was so good that he could even make his offense work with an immobile QB. Not a good indication…
- Kelly returned to the college game with a swagger as he thought he was the next Nick Saban moving from the NFL who would set the NCAA on fire again.
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If you want more detailed reasons why … I wrote about them here and right here three years ago and you can see that I only would have taken CK back (if I had been the Athletic Director) under a number of conditions that Chip would have never met.
Bottom line: I did not want Chip back at Oregon then, and I would not want him now over Cristobal. While Coach Cristobal has issues to solve, they are solvable, while I do not think that is true at all with Chip.
I do know there are people who disagree; give me your thoughts as to why, since we do have a game in the Rose Bowl this fall!
Charles Fischer (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo by UCLA Twitter
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 35 years and has written reports on football boards for over 23 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He and his wife Lois, have a daughter Christine, reside in Eugene Oregon, where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years and now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations.
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…
