Ryan Day talks Chip Kelly hiring process, perspective new OC has brought to Buckeyes

The cliche “timing is everything” rang true for Chip Kelly this offseason. The timing wasn’t quite right for Kelly to take the Ohio State offensive coordinator job the first time it was presented to him. The second time, however — after the Buckeyes’ original OC hire, Bill O’Brien, accepted the Boston College head coaching position — Kelly made the move, leaving his post as UCLA head coach.

Kelly transitioned from head coach to offensive coordinator in his own conference, voluntarily. In that unique process, he reunited with Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day.

“For him to move on, the situation and timing had to be right,” Day said Thursday on ESPN’s “Always College Football with Greg McElroy.”

“I thought he handled it unbelievably well. He was excited to get here, and ever since he’s been here, he’s done nothing but connect well with the players, with the staff, and it’s been great because it gives us a different perspective.”

Kelly was Day’s OC when Day quarterbacked University of New Hampshire in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Soon after, Day coached for Kelly at UNH, and then Kelly eventually brought Day on staff with him in 2015-16 while he coached the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

Day referenced that Kelly first realized just how much he preferred an assistant role over the increasingly-CEO-like demands of being a head college football coach when he coached UCLA’s quarterbacks this past postseason. Ryan Gunderson, who served as the Bruins’ quarterbacks coach from 2021-23, had already been hired in early December to be the OC of his alma mater, Oregon State.

So Kelly stepped in and coached the UCLA quarterback room, at the time including Collin Schlee and Ethan Garbers, who led the Bruins to a LA Bowl victory over Boise State.

“I think my wife remarked, she’s like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time,’” Kelly said back in March. And, to me, the best part of football is football. And so you got to do football, and not do some of the things that involve with the head coaching dealing.”

McElroy asked Day Thursday about what philosophy changes he anticipates Kelly implementing this season, noting Kelly’s reputation as an innovator, especially in the run game.

“We’re working on that now,” Day said. “There’s a lot of really good ideas. And he’s always been creative, always. That’s probably the thing that I embraced the most when I played for him when I was in college. My GPA was a lot better in the spring than it was in the fall.

“I’d get in there early, and he would just have such a thirst for knowledge, and he would just kind of work and figure out, ‘What was the next thing that’s out there?’ A lot of times, it’s cyclical. It’s not new, it’s just something that people aren’t working on. Or defenses are looking to take this away, so this is opening up something else. His mind works quickly. When he sees something, he recognizes it fast.”

Day added: “I think it’s exciting for our team, because, like I mentioned before, we have some guys in that room who see things a certain way, talk a certain way, which is great because it continues the culture, and there’s a lot of cohesiveness. But having a fresh perspective has been great in there.”

Kelly’s calling the plays, and he’s coordinating the offense, along with co-OC and receivers coach Brian Hartline. Day’s hoping Kelly’s wrinkles, plus the other staff and personnel changes he’s made this offseason, can help Ohio State’s offensive return to its explosive standard in 2024.