New Oregon Ducks Head Coach hoping to make a splash in his bigger pond

Chip Kelly will be taking the plunge into the NCAA Division-I Head Coaches pond this season when he starts his first season as the “top Duck” at the University of Oregon. Although Chip Kelly has no head coaching experience, he has accumulated a respected reputation in the football world. Many of his peers regard him as one of the most innovative offensive minds of our time and see the team he is leading as the one to beat.

Coach Kelly got his first real break into coaching when he was hired as the University of New Hampshire. Serving in many different positions on the coaching staff, Chip Kelly spent his last 8 seasons with the New Hampshire Wildcats as offensive coordinator. Then in 2007, Chip Kelly was hired by the University of Oregon to be their offensive coordinator. Kelly’s spread option offense was instantly successful at the University of Oregon and he helped guide the Ducks to the top Pac-10 scorers per game, with an average of 38.15 ppg. In 2008 after a series of injuries threatened the offensive half of the team, Chip Kelly stepped up once again helping the quarterbacks to pull out another offensively successful year. On March 13, 2009 it was announced that former Ducks head coach Mike Bellotti was resigning in order to take over the athletic director position and Chip Kelly was announced as his successor.

Oregon Ducks fans are eager to see what this relatively young head coach will do with the team. Pac-10 fans in general should watch out for Chip Kelly and the Ducks as they are sure to have one of the best coached offenses in the conference.