When Mike Bellotti stepped down as Oregon football coach and promoted offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to the position, it didn’t receive much fanfare nationally.
Looking back, it was worthy of making waves.
Kelly propelled the Ducks to new heights when he was the head football coach and made Oregon realize it could become a national power and play for Rose Bowls and national championships on a semi-regular basis.
In a list compiled by CBS Sports and writer Shehan Jeyarajah, Oregon’s hiring of Kelly wasn’t quite a Top 10 move in the last 25 years of college football, but just about as it was ranked No. 11 in their Top 25.
“Frankly, it’s remarkable that Kelly was Oregon’s head coach for only four years, even considering his success as a coordinator. But when it comes to transformative tenures, Kelly’s run ranks among the best,” he said. “The Ducks surged into national prominence with three straight top-four finishes, including a trip to the 2010 national championship game.”
Jeyariah also pointed out that even though Kelly wasn’t on the sidelines when the Ducks made it to the 2015 national title game with Marcus Mariota at quarterback, his fingerprints were all over that team.
After a few hiccups along the way, fortunately for Oregon, it has another coach who can achieve the heights once realized by Kelly, with its current coach, Dan Lanning. The Ducks are seemingly in a position to compete for titles on an even more regular basis now than when Kelly was in Eugene and that’s saying something.
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Source link : https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/06/18/oregon-ducks-football-chip-kelly-move-of-the-century/84265332007/
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Publish date : 2025-06-18 21:53:00
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