Chip Kelly: It's always special going back to Oregon

At Oregon, Chip Kelly made a name for himself as one of the best and most innovative offensive minds in the game. He got to Oregon in 2007 as Mike Bellotti’s offensive coordinator. By 2009, Kelly was the Oregon head coach. He spent four seasons there, with a 46-7 record, three conference championships, and a national championship game appearance.

It looked like Chip Kelly was going to be at Oregon for the foreseeable future. Then, the NFL came calling. Kelly took his shot. It didn’t work out, though, and he eventually found himself back in college at UCLA. Since then, things haven’t come as easily as they did to him at Oregon. But, with a 6-0 start to the 2022 season, Kelly looks like he has the Bruins on track.

Next up for UCLA is a trip to Oregon in a top-10 matchup. While speaking to the media, Chip Kelly was asked what it was like returning to Oregon.

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“It’s always special going back there,” Chip Kelly said. “It’s a special place in my life. There’s a lot of great people there that had a profound impact on my life, but I’m not playing the game, so it’s–we’re totally focused.”

Clearly, Oregon holds a special place in Chip Kelly’s heart. However, he does want to continue to emphasize that the focus isn’t on him but on the game itself.

“We’re getting in Friday around six, and we play at noon or 12:30 the next day. So, we all know what this entails, you know, it’s a business trip just like any other week.”

Since getting to UCLA, Chip Kelly has an 0-3 record against Oregon. This will be his third time playing in Oregon with UCLA.

Dan Lanning on familiarity with Chip Kelly

Chip Kelly clearly has plenty of experience with Oregon. He knows the program well, but since he left there have been several coaching changes. Now, it’s first-year head coach Dan Lanning who is in place there. However, according to Lanning, the two hardly know each other.

“I’ve talked to Coach a few times at PAC-12 events but I didn’t talk to him before getting there,” Dan Lanning said.