Ohio State Coach Chip Kelly: 'I Didn't Build' Oregon Ducks Program

In preparation of facing the Oregon Ducks and returning to Autzen Stadium, Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly revealed his thoughts on the Oregon team and Ducks coach Dan Lanning. Kelly says he didn't build the Oregon program, that Mike Belotti and Rich Brooks did.

Sep 17, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly speaks during a press conference at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. / Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Nearly everyone knows by now that the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Eugene to face the No. 3 Oregon Ducks on Saturday. On Tuesday, Oct. 8, reporters asked Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly about the memories of returning to Autzen Stadium and the challenges of facing the Oregon Ducks.

Kelly talked about prime time in Autzen, Oregon coach Dan Lanning and defensive's coordinator Tosh Lupoi's scheme, and Ducks defensive end Jordan Burch's special athletic ability. The former Ducks coach and now Ohio State offensive coordinator recalled some memories about his time in Eugene.

Here are the best quotes from Kelly's press conference ahead of facing his former team.

Sep 17, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly speaks during a press conference at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. / Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Q: How special is it for you? What are your strongest memories of coaching there and building that program?

Kelly: “Yea, well I didn’t build the program. Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti built the program, I just kind of jumped in after Mike. It’s a special place, and I think it’s great for our players. A chance for them to play in one of the special places in college football. They came out here a couple of years ago and play in the Shoe, we get to go play in Autzen. Autzen Stadium at that time of day is truly special, so I think our guys are excited. They’re a really good team, so I think that’ll get your attention right away when you look at the film.”

Q: What makes the Ducks defense so good?

Kelly: “I think the way Jordan Burch is playing right now up front. They’ve got a lot of seniors on their defense, I think there’s nine of them in that starting line up. Everybody in the back end, the two linebackers, the one linebacker, Bassa, seems like he’s been there for a long time, and Bryce Boettcher . . . number 28 who’s a really good player. Baseball player, has played really well. Kind of seems like he’s the heart and soul of that defense. And then they have veterans in the secondary. I know they’re transfer kids, but they’re all seniors that have played a lot of football. I think they’re gelling together as a group. They’re gonna present a lot of different looks, so we’ve got to be ready for everything they can throw at you, and they’re gonna throw a lot of things at you.”

Q: You talked about Jordan Burch, what makes him so special?

Kelly: “I think his athletic ability for such a big player. He’s listed at 6-5, 290, but he plays defensive end. Most guys that big are the interior defensive lineman. So he’s a really athletic guy, and he had a huge game against Michigan State last Friday night, and really kind of showed up. I think he’s really starting to embrace that role that Tosh and Dan have put him in. You’ve got to know where he is on every play. He’s one of those guys that can disrupt a football game.”

Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel meets with Oregon head coach Chip Kelly for a photo opportunity in front of the Rose Bowl trophy during a press conference the day prior to the Rose Bowl Game, December 31, 2009. / NEAL C. LAURON / USA TODAY NETWORK

Q: What did you learn about recruiting at Oregon? What is different from recruiting at Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State? What's different about trying to get kids to the Pacific Northwest?

Kelly: "I think it's a different era now, so I don't think you can compare when I was there in 2012. Recruiting in 2012 and 2024, you might as well have been in a horse and buggy in 2012 the way the rules have changed. So I think it's a totally different game now, in how people recruit and what incentives people get to go to schools, so I don't even know if that's applicable."

Q: You faced Dan Lanning once down at UCLA, you guys had almost 450 yards. What did you like that you guys did against Dan? What did you learn from facing Dan that you can draw for this matchup against him again?

Kelly: "I can start with what I didn't like is that we were behind, so we threw the ball a lot more in that game because we were behind. Sometimes, I think if you just look at the game and go 'Hey, you guys had X amount of offense,' well, are they playing the same defense that they would play if it was a little bit closer scoring? I don't know if that's the case when you go back and look at that game. We faced a lot of soft zones in the second half because we were down, sow e had to throw the ball to get within a score or two. We kind of made it a little bit closer at the end. They're really well coached. He comes from a really good coaching tree, start with coach Saban and Kirby at both Alabama and Georgia, so they're going to be sound. They're going to move their front. They play very close in coverage, they're very sticky in their coverage in terms of challenging your receivers. There's a lot of the plates of the linebackers, but I think they're linebackers are really well coached and I think they handle it well."

Mar 5, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly works with quarterbacks during the first spring practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Q: How did your time at Oregon influence some of your creativity? Whether offensively, running a program, anything like that.

Kelly: "Well I had a chance to work for a great head coach in Mike Bellotti when I was there for two years as an assistant. More important than that, I think Mike's staff was together, a lot of those guys, for 20+ years, which was even a rarity back then. Gary Campbell, when Gary retired at running back coach, he'd been there for 30-some odd years. Nick Aliotti was 20-plus years, Steve Greatwood was 20-plus years, John Neal 15 years, Tom Osborne 15 years, Don Pellum 20-plus years. I came in, and I was the youngest guy there, and the least amount of time on staff. But there was such a wealth of knowledge from that coaching staff that you couldn't help but learn from those guys, and they welcomed me with open arms. So, it was just a really cool experience for me to spend three years as an assistant before I became a head coach, and then when I became a head coach, those guys were all there with me. It was like I had five or six other head coaches with me that kind of shepherded me along the way as we kept going. The big thing there was that we had great players. The success we had when I was there was a direct correlation to how good our players were."

Q: Are you excited to go back there?

Kelly: "I am. I loved my time there. I met so many so many great people, besides the coaches and the players that I got a chance to coach. The Phil and Penny Knight's and the Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny's and Ed Malitas', and so many people that care very deeply about that university. That's the one thing I can tell you about being there is the passion that those guys have for the University of Oregon is second to none, just like the people here, their passion to this place is passion to none. "

Q: What are the keys to facing a Dan Lanning defense, specifically the front?

Kelly: "I mean, I only faced him one other team, so I haven't studied Dan to be able to say these are his hallmark traits. . . . I think there's movement involved in the front. They move in and out of three-down and four-down. They can blitz you from internally, they can blitz you from the edges. I think they always seem like they're close in coverage. You don't turn the tape on and see a lot of guys running free. I think they do a really good job of mixing their coverages with their fronts, and it can present some problems to you if you're not prepared for it. So, that's the challenge for us this week, is that it's a really well-coordinated defense on both the front and on the back end."

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