Chip Kelly says he had no influence on uniforms while at Oregon

Chip Kelly made a name for himself at Oregon, first as an innovative offensive coordinator and then as a head coach. During his time there, he helped make the Ducks a consistently elite program that embraced the things that made it special. That includes having Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, as a donor. It’s helped Oregon to come up with new and unique uniform combinations that fans and players love.

However, Chip Kelly will tell you something that may surprise some people. He had no influence on the uniforms while at Oregon.

“No,” Chip Kelly insisted he didn’t have any say when it came to uniform designs, “And nor should I.”

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“Nike’s got an unbelievable design team. So, my background’s not in design of uniforms, so Tinker Hatfield did a great job with that, and then the rest of the guys up there. So, you know that’s what they’re known for and they do an unbelievable job.”

This is a bit surprising, given how much control college coaches normally have around a program. At the same time, it’s one less thing to worry about, given how much is already on a head coach’s plate. He’s also right, the design team and Nike would do better than him at this kind of work every time. While he’s at UCLA, Chip Kelly likely won’t have to worry about the uniforms that his Bruins wear.

This weekend’s game will be Chip Kelly’s fourth against Oregon since returning to the college ranks. He’s currently 0-3 against his former team. Oregon will be wearing pink this weekend, which Kelly can’t remember if they ever wore or not.

Chip Kelly on returning to Oregon

Oregon is always going to hold a special place in Chip Kelly’s heart. It’s the place that launched his career and gave him a shot at the NFL. Now, even though he’s already returned to Oregon, it’s still special for him.

“It’s always special going back there. 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,” Chip Kelly said.

“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.”