Of all the things Chip Kelly is looking forward to in his return trip to Southern California, there is one that rises above everything else.
“Gotta get more sunscreen looking at the weather report, because we haven’t seen the sun for a little while in Columbus,” said Kelly with a wry smile.
The eighth-seeded Buckeyes will face top-seeded Oregon on Wednesday in the Rose Bowl in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup. The game in the venerable stadium is a homecoming for Kelly, who resigned from UCLA in February after six seasons to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
Kelly had a 35-34 record with the Bruins, including 25-13 in his final three seasons. UCLA though appeared to reach its ceiling under Kelly after going 8-5 last season when it was expected to contend for a title in its final season in the Pac-12.
Kelly was on the hot seat a year ago going into the Southern California game, but a 38-20 victory appeared to give him another season. But Kelly said coaching quarterbacks leading up to the LA Bowl after staff departures made him realize that he enjoyed being in the position meeting rooms more than overseeing an entire program.
After pursuing a couple NFL assistant openings, Kelly decided to reunite with longtime friend Ryan Day.
“I had a great time when I was at UCLA. I had a great staff and an unbelievable group of players there, too. I think as a head coach, you wear a lot of different hats. Obviously, as a coordinator and just coaching the quarterbacks, it’s a little bit different,” Kelly said. “It’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed being back in the meeting room with the players on a day-to-day basis. As a head coach, you bounced around to different meeting rooms, but as the coordinator, you’re with the quarterbacks all the time, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it.”
With Kelly calling the plays, Ohio State is 11th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 36 points, and 32nd in total offense at 427.3 yards a game.
Quarterback Will Howard, tied with Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel for second nationally with a 73.2% completion rate, grew up as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, where Kelly coached for two-plus seasons (2013-15). Gabriel was surprised but also thought it was cool when Kelly brought up Eagles clips to study in the quarterback room.
“The more that this year has gone on, I feel like we’re in sync right now. We both kind of see things the same way sometimes,” said Howard, who has thrown for 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions. “We’re also able to have that healthy discussion of what do you like here? What do you not like here? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time working with him.”
Day said that he has also seen Kelly’s comfort level increase as he has developed a better understanding of Ohio State’s personnel as well as going through the Big Ten for the first time.
Day also noted that he was happy with the Buckeyes’ balance in their 42-17 victory over Tennessee in the first round Dec. 21. Howard completed 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while the running game had 156 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry.
“He’s got a great understanding of the entire game of football, offensive football, whether it’s wide open and spread and tempo or getting with multiple tight ends in the game, huddling, different styles of play, and he’s always said, and we’ve always said that the No. 1 job of the coordinator is to put the offense in the best position to be successful.”
Coming back to the Rose Bowl isn’t the only connection Kelly has to the game. He was Oregon’s head coach from 2009-12, and had a 46-7 record before leaving for the NFL. Kelly is winless in six games against the Ducks, including a 32-31 loss in Eugene in prime time Oct. 12.
Kelly said the offensive staff has reviewed all 13 Oregon games from this season.
Ducks defensive end Jordan Burch did not play in the first meeting, which is one of the biggest differences on defense. The other is that the first game took place in the middle of the season as both teams have played seven games since then.
“I think every game is different. It’s always the matchups and the individual matchups, our offensive line versus their defensive line, which I think is one of the best lines in the country,” Kelly said. “Our job is to put these guys in position to make plays and then let them go play. We’ve got a great group from that standpoint that is a joy to coach because of how they approach every single day.”
