Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator checks all the right boxes for Ryan Day, Ohio State in 2024

After Bill O’Brien departed for the head coaching job at Boston College, Ryan Day wasted little time tabbing Ohio State’s offensive coordinator replacement, making a splash hire in his mentor Chip Kelly to the same position. 

It was a stunning move, yet unsurprising at the same time. 

It took a unique set of circumstances for the Buckeyes to swipe a sitting Big Ten head coach to an OC role in the same conference, but Kelly’s unprecedented decision only occurred because he was looking for a career reset and is among Day’s closest confidants. 

As part of the so-called “New Hampshire mafia,” Day was a record-setting quarterback for Chip Kelly’s Wildcats back in the late 90s, early aughts, and then worked under Kelly with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. There’s scheme cross-over, and perhaps most importantly, a genuine relationship and trust. 

The move checks so many boxes for the Buckeyes. Here are three thoughts on why I love the hire for Day and Ohio State. 

Chip Kelly allows Ryan Day to embrace his CEO role

Ever since the O’Brien to BC reports leaked, there were questions as to whether or not Day would stay the course and continue to give up play-calling in 2024. 

If you’d read or heard any of the quotes out of Columbus in the last week, it’s easy to see why, too. 

Ryan Day “loves calling plays” and literally admitted he didn’t want to give up the very responsibilities that got him the Ohio State head coaching job in the first place. But Day was steadfast in his decision to cede game-planning so that he could shift more energy and focus toward running the entire program. 

It’s become rote but true: College football coaches truly need to be CEOs in 2024. The job demands have simply changed. They’re responsible for a crazy recruiting calendar, NIL fundraising, the transfer portal, etc. — plus winning games on Saturdays.

So what’s more important for Day these days: Calling the perfect play on 3rd-and-8 or landing another impact player from the transfer portal?

Day implicitly trusts Kelly, so the decision likely came easier than it would’ve had he been forced to go with someone who lacked similar experience and upside, but Ohio State’s head coach was able to hire someone he won’t have to micromanage.

That’s large. 

The 2024 season is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for Day. Not necessarily in terms of getting fired or national title or bust, but the Buckeyes need to make real noise on the field next fall — meaning beating Michigan and a deep run in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. 

Hiring Kelly should allow Day to have a greater macro focus on his entire program — and for a team that’s failed to meet expectations in recent years, that’s not nothing. 

The decision to quickly hire Chip Kelly rubber-stamps Day’s quest to tweak Ohio State’s offensive identity for 2024

I joked earlier this offseason that Day actually agreed with Lou Holtz’s assertion that Ohio State wasn’t tough enough last season because all of Ohio State’s moves in the transfer portal thus far indicated a philosophical shift to a more physical, punishing rushing offense. 

As I wrote: “When you see the Buckeyes dipping into the portal to grab dual-threat quarterback Will Howard, Alabama offensive lineman Seth Mclaughlin (good blocker, just don’t ask him to snap, please), and Ole Miss star tailback Quinshon Judkins, it screams one thing: Let’s get back to doing what allowed us to kick Michigan’s ass all those seasons under Urban Meyer.” 

Well, since then TreYevyon Henderson also opted to return to school, giving the Buckeyes the best 1-2 punch at tailback in America, and now they just hired an offensive guru known for churning out prolific rushing attacks. 

Chip Kelly doesn’t need to be told to run the damn ball.

Few coaches do it more or better. At Oregon, Kelly’s offenses were among the best in the nation (Top 5 nationally in rushing three of four years as head coach). His rushing attacks at UCLA were formidable, too, leading the Pac-12 in yards per game and ranking No. 2 in per-rush average last season. 

It’s tantalizing to think of what Kelly can scheme up for the likes of Henderson, a home run hitter with major horsepower, and Judkins, a tackle-breaking machine. Howard isn’t Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but he’s athletic enough to be involved in the run game, too. 

Kelly should diversify Ohio State’s offense, and importantly, he has managed to scheme elite units around offensive lines that were good but not great. Speaking of …

Kelly is reunited with Buckeyes offensive line coach Justin Frye, which should give the unit a boost of continuity and alleviate some pressure

While there are unknowns around how Howard will play quarterbacking a team eying a national championship, the biggest question mark for the Buckeyes in 2024 is their offensive line. 

The unit was fine last season in its second year working under Frye, but it wasn’t a championship-caliber group — especially when it came to efficiently running the football (just 4.19 yards per carry, seventh in the Big Ten). 

But in steps Kelly as OC, whose scheme should alleviate some pressure on the OL, and he’s now reunited with Frye, whose best seasons as an OL coach were working for Kelly at UCLA. Fyre spent four years with the Bruins before taking the Ohio State job in 2022, so there will be no transition period in terms of scheme, terminology or expectations. 

Add it all up, and hiring Kelly checks every box on the ledger for Day.