Chip Kelly’s Influence Continues To Fuel Oregon

Vernon Adams, Jr. is the first Oregon starting quarterback since Kellen Clemens to never work under Chip Kelly’s tutelage.

Let that sink in. Clemens, a gutsy Ducks quarterback who played a major part in one of Oregon’s best years of the last decade in 2005, is already in his tenth NFL season. He’s been married for over a decade. He’s got two kids, and has played for five professional teams.

Clemens is old. 32. Kelly’s influence at Oregon stretched back a long time, and even stretched forward into the first few years of the Mark Helfrich era by way of a number of recruits – most notably, of course, the NFL’s best quarterback in Marcus Mariota.

Now, though, things have changed somewhat. Kelly’s last Oregon recruits are seniors. At quarterback, his presence is no longer felt.

Kelly is in his third season in Philadelphia already – though this is really the first campaign that has been Kelly’s and Kelly’s alone to run. The Eagles started with a dud, sputtering early and late and losing 26-24 to Atlanta on Monday night. They’ll turn it around soon enough.

We all know it’d be foolish to bet against Chip. This is the guy who took Dennis Dixon from a borderline incompetent stick figure who couldn’t beat out Brady Leaf for the starting quarterback job and made him Heisman contender in 2007.

Kelly didn’t just make Jeremiah Masoli palatable; he took him to a Rose Bowl. He got a 56-point bowl game performance out of Justin Roper.

The man was, and will continue to be, a football genius – a once in a lifetime character who is revolutionizing the sport. Those play cards that originated at Oregon are everywhere this season. Everyone plays with tempo now. But the Ducks are still unique. Still a step ahead.

So despite this loss to Michigan State, the Ducks will be fine this season. Even without Kelly’s fingerprints on the program, even without Mariota, and even with everything else that will come Oregon’s way.

Because of Kelly’s system, the Ducks start each season on second base while everyone else digs into the batter’s box.

You’ve watched the games. You’ve every team outside of an elite handful – and maybe some in that elite handful (hello, Auburn!) – struggle with new systems and first-year quarterbacks; guys who can only throw the ball ten yards down the field and coaches who are unwilling to take risks from even the most advantageous of positions.

That’s how we got Gary Andersen punting the game from inside Michigan’s forty yard-line on 4^th and 3 last Saturday. Take a look around the Pac-12 North.

Oregon State just went out and scored seven points against that very mediocre Wolverines team. Stanford was held to six points in their loss at Northwestern. Washington scored thirteen and lost at Boise State.

Let’s not even get started with Washington State, who play under renowned offensive coach Mike Leach and put up a measly seventeen points in that shocking opening day defeat to Portland State. Cal hasn’t slipped up yet – or played anyone of consequence – but there’s no one who will vouch for the Golden Bears as special.

The point is this: Oregon has already lapped most of the teams it’s about to play. Kelly is gone, Kelly’s players are about to be gone, but Kelly’s system remains. That’s how the Ducks have won at least ten games in every season since 2009.

The system is king. Mariota transcended it, but he’s a once in a lifetime talent too. Vernon Adams will thrive. He’ll clean up his act, and by the time it really counts, he’ll be firing on all cylinders.

This loss to Michigan State didn’t knock Oregon out of anything. The Ducks lost later last year, to a worse team, and still made the playoff. In fact, I’d be heartened that the Ducks defense stepped up when it had to, and that this had every chance to beat a quality top-five opponent on the road.

The Ducks overachieve every year based on their recruiting rankings. The system is the king – this is true in Philly too, by the way, which is exactly what everyone who has insinuated that Kelly is racist because of the players he has let go fails to understand.

Credit goes to Mark Helfrich and Scott Frost for keeping the system going at Oregon. We’re not so much talking about the culture now as we are talking about the game plans themselves. It’s that unrivaled Ducks feel – the tempo, the reads, the precision – that at least half of the country has tried to replicate.

That’s not to say Oregon is unbeatable. Hell, they just lost. Only scored 28 points in the process. And even last year, nothing the Ducks could do on offense could keep up with the physical juggernaut that was Ohio State.

Oregon’s system doesn’t guarantee championships. But it does guarantee that the Ducks will be in the race. This offense alone will win ten games. That’s why there’s no reason to panic right now.

I don’t know where Oregon will finish. My guess is that there’s another loss lurking somewhere in this season and maybe a Rose Bowl trip coming.

But I leave the first two weeks of the college football season as impressed as ever with what the Ducks have. Oregon is still playing a different game than almost all of its peers. That’s the surest sign that Kelly’s influence is still being felt – and as long as Kelly’s influence is still being felt, the Ducks are going to be just fine.