Chip Kelly reflects on time at Oregon ahead of Autzen Stadium return

The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to travel West to play the Oregon Ducks in a marquee Big Ten matchup. Ahead of that game, Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly reflected on his return to Autzen Stadium.

Kelly is known for helping Oregon to become a national brand in college football, though he downplayed his role in that. Instead, he praised the atmosphere at Autzen and emphasized that he’s excited for the team to have the opportunity to play there.

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“I didn’t build the program,” Chip Kelly said. “Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti built the program. I just kind of jumped in after Mike, but it’s a special place and I think it’s great for our players. A chance for them to play in one of the special places in college football. They came out here a couple of years ago and play in the Shoe, we get to go play in Autzen. Autzen Stadium at that time of day is truly special, so I think our guys are excited. They’re a really good team, so I think that’ll get your attention right away when you look at the film.”

Chip Kelly first got to Oregon in 2007 as the team’s offensive coordinator and he became the head coach in 2009. During that time, he made numerous connections and he even still has family in that area.

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“Then, I have family there,” Kelly said. “I have a brother-in-law, a sister-in-law, three nephews. So, I’ll get a chance to see them and then some of the coaches that I’ve coached with. Nick Aliotti. John Neal. Don Pellum. Steve Greatwood. A couple guys we’ve text messaged. So, besides family and those coaches that I’ve worked with that I’ll get a chance to see very quickly, it’s about the game. I’m fired up for our players because it is a really special place to play.”

Over the years, Autzen Stadium has earned a reputation as one of the best atmospheres in college football. That’s despite only holding about 54,000 fans. That’s only a little over half of the 102,780 people that fit into Ohio State Stadium.

“I think it’s like any advice you give anybody. It’s that it’s really not about the crowd. It’s about what do we do and how do we prepare. I think everywhere you go in this league, it’s gonna be loud. That’s just the nature of it. The stadiums in the Midwest are gigantic. I think this group has a lot of experience in big stadiums,” Kelly said.

“So, I think no matter where we were going, whether it was to Autzen or to the Big House or up to Camp Randall or any place like that in between is you really don’t concentrate on the stadium, you’re concentrating on the opponent. You just turn the tape on and that will have your attention. You know it’s about the Ohio State football players versus the Oregon football players. It’s not about the environment that you’re playing in. It’s about the game itself.”

While at Oregon, Chip Kelly had tons of success, going 46-7 in four seasons and managing three AP Top 5 finishes before he left for the NFL. He’s hoping to have similar success at Ohio State, though he’s not interested in comparing the two experiences.

“Nothing goes through my mind, and I don’t mean it that way, because I never think of that. I learned a long time ago, I think it was Thomas Jefferson, that comparison is the thief of joy and I don’t compare my experience at one school to my experience at another school because, number one I don’t have time to do that, but number two maybe when I retire I can sit back and kind of think about it but I don’t think about it,” Kelly said.

“I just this game has given me so much and it’s so special that I have the opportunity. I got a chance to coach at Oregon, like, I would never have dreamed of that as a little kid. I got a chance to coach at the Ohio State. I like, wow, that’s pretty special. So, I think both of them are different. I think every experience is different just because all universities and the people that you deal with are different but both places are really special to me.”

While this won’t be Chip Kelly’s first return trip to Oregon, he coached there three times as the head coach at UCLA, it’s still clearly a special place to him.