Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and his starting quarterback, Michael Vick (Eric Hartline /The Daily Times)
How chip kelly will revolutionize the nfl
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New head coach Chip Kelly will take over the NFL sooner rather than later, says Joshua Chapman.
9/3/13 |
On January 16, 2013 the Philadelphia Eagles named Oregon head coach Chip Kelly to the same position. The announcement shocked many, including myself, a die-hard Eagles fan. Just a week earlier Kelly turned down offers for head coaching vacancies, including the Cleveland Browns and yes, the Philadelphia Eagles. Nevertheless, the move was another case of a struggling franchise, such as the Eagles who had a combined 12 wins over the last two years (major disappointment by the way), dipping into the college ranks to acquire creative young minds. Now while some have flamed out (see Saban, Nick) others like Jimmy Johnson have had tremendous success. While I may be biased being an Eagles fan, I believe that Chip Kelly will not only be successful, but will revolutionize the NFL for two main reasons.
Chip Kelly’s Love of Sports Science
Chip Kelly loves him some sports science. He is going to stick by it until someone proves him wrong about it and then he’ll move onto the next groundbreaking idea. During mini-camp, Kelly gave each of his players personalized nutritional smoothies that gave that player whatever vitamins he lacked. He changed the food in the team’s cafeteria from junk food to foods that’ll actually help the team perform better instead of making them feel bloated. Kelly also had each player go through a personalized sleep test where the players got recommendations on how long they should sleep each night to achieve optimal performance on the field. Now, granted, not every player is going to follow this and instead hit up clubs, bars, and other establishments during their evenings, but the fact that Kelly is this dedicated to having his athletes in the best shape in all phases on his team speaks volumes to me. What Kelly is doing is trend-setting. No other team in the NFL, as far as I know, is doing this. Football, maybe more than any other sport, has such a deep connection between body and mind that both need to be in top shape in order to achieve peak performance. If you feel good about your body in your mind, you’re going to go out and play instead of thinking and playing (trust me, I know about this correlation, I’m a Bulls fan). Thinking is an athlete’s greatest enemy while in motion on the playing field. And when an athlete inevitably gets hurt, Kelly’s medical staff will rely on sports science to help speed up the process. Offensive linemen Jason Kelce (starting center) and Evan Mathis (starting left guard) both had high praise as to how sports science helped them recover from their injuries (torn ACL and MCL for Kelce, sprained ankle for Mathis). But there’s one more key thing that’ll help Chip Kelly take over the NFL.
Chip Kelly’s Adaptability
Every NFL head coach just wants the best players on his team on the field at all time. Unfortunately, they can’t keep some guys because they don’t fit the team’s “scheme.” This is where Chip Kelly comes into play. Kelly is more concerned about getting the best 11 guys on the field at all times and not be concerned about schematic fit. The Eagles are shifting to a 3-4 (three down linemen, four linebackers, five defensive backs) base defense, but that’s not all that you’ll see from them. The Eagles will also show a 4-3 (four down lineman, three linebackers, five defensive backs) base throughout the game and season, as well as a 5-2 (five down linemen, two linebackers, four defensive backs) and a 3-3-5 (three down linemen, three linebackers, five defensive backs). Kelly wants his best players in the best situation to succeed. But the defensive side isn’t the only place where big changes are in place. The offense has also seen major re-tooling. When Kelly was hired, there was a debate as to who the starting quarterback should be between incumbent (sorta) Michael Vick and second year man Nick Foles. The Eagles went the entire mini-camp, OTA’s and most of the training camp with the two splitting reps at first-team quarterback. While Vick was named starter before the Birds’ third preseason game, it was fascinating to see the difference in way the offense was constructed around each quarterback while they were in the game. Anyone who knows anything about Chip Kelly at Oregon knows that he ran an up-tempo version of the read-option, which relied on a mobile quarterback making quick, accurate passes and fooling the defense by delaying either handing off to the running back or making a pass.
Chip Kelly’s Love of Sports Science
Chip Kelly loves him some sports science. He is going to stick by it until someone proves him wrong about it and then he’ll move onto the next groundbreaking idea. During mini-camp, Kelly gave each of his players personalized nutritional smoothies that gave that player whatever vitamins he lacked. He changed the food in the team’s cafeteria from junk food to foods that’ll actually help the team perform better instead of making them feel bloated. Kelly also had each player go through a personalized sleep test where the players got recommendations on how long they should sleep each night to achieve optimal performance on the field. Now, granted, not every player is going to follow this and instead hit up clubs, bars, and other establishments during their evenings, but the fact that Kelly is this dedicated to having his athletes in the best shape in all phases on his team speaks volumes to me. What Kelly is doing is trend-setting. No other team in the NFL, as far as I know, is doing this. Football, maybe more than any other sport, has such a deep connection between body and mind that both need to be in top shape in order to achieve peak performance. If you feel good about your body in your mind, you’re going to go out and play instead of thinking and playing (trust me, I know about this correlation, I’m a Bulls fan). Thinking is an athlete’s greatest enemy while in motion on the playing field. And when an athlete inevitably gets hurt, Kelly’s medical staff will rely on sports science to help speed up the process. Offensive linemen Jason Kelce (starting center) and Evan Mathis (starting left guard) both had high praise as to how sports science helped them recover from their injuries (torn ACL and MCL for Kelce, sprained ankle for Mathis). But there’s one more key thing that’ll help Chip Kelly take over the NFL.
Chip Kelly’s Adaptability
Every NFL head coach just wants the best players on his team on the field at all time. Unfortunately, they can’t keep some guys because they don’t fit the team’s “scheme.” This is where Chip Kelly comes into play. Kelly is more concerned about getting the best 11 guys on the field at all times and not be concerned about schematic fit. The Eagles are shifting to a 3-4 (three down linemen, four linebackers, five defensive backs) base defense, but that’s not all that you’ll see from them. The Eagles will also show a 4-3 (four down lineman, three linebackers, five defensive backs) base throughout the game and season, as well as a 5-2 (five down linemen, two linebackers, four defensive backs) and a 3-3-5 (three down linemen, three linebackers, five defensive backs). Kelly wants his best players in the best situation to succeed. But the defensive side isn’t the only place where big changes are in place. The offense has also seen major re-tooling. When Kelly was hired, there was a debate as to who the starting quarterback should be between incumbent (sorta) Michael Vick and second year man Nick Foles. The Eagles went the entire mini-camp, OTA’s and most of the training camp with the two splitting reps at first-team quarterback. While Vick was named starter before the Birds’ third preseason game, it was fascinating to see the difference in way the offense was constructed around each quarterback while they were in the game. Anyone who knows anything about Chip Kelly at Oregon knows that he ran an up-tempo version of the read-option, which relied on a mobile quarterback making quick, accurate passes and fooling the defense by delaying either handing off to the running back or making a pass.
Anyone who knows anything about Nick Foles knows he’s not the most mobile quarterback in the world. Anyone who knows anything about Michael Vick knows he’s not the most accurate quarterback in the world. Therefore, Kelly had to design the offense to cater to the individual quarterback’s strength. With Nick Foles in the game, the Eagles had some read-option mixed with short to mid-range passes and few over the top passes. This played to Foles’ strength, as he is a quarterback that relies on passes where he can anticipate where the receiver is going to be. When Michael Vick was starting, the offense looked vastly different. Almost every pass play was either read-option, a quarterback roll-out or a play-action pass, which played to Vick’s strength as a mobile quarterback. Vick also has a much stronger arm than Foles, which led to more mid to long passes, with some check downs and screen passes mixed in. While Kelly most likely doesn't have his franchise quarterback on the roster, he’s had to be adaptable to what he’s presented with.
Chip Kelly’s entrance into the NFL was one that caught many off guard. Nevertheless, Kelly is in a position to succeed with this team. The Eagles are the most similar to the Oregon Ducks teams Kelly has had in the past. If everything goes Kelly’s way, he will change the way the game is played going forward, from how the athletes are conditioned off the field to how players are utilized.
Chip Kelly’s entrance into the NFL was one that caught many off guard. Nevertheless, Kelly is in a position to succeed with this team. The Eagles are the most similar to the Oregon Ducks teams Kelly has had in the past. If everything goes Kelly’s way, he will change the way the game is played going forward, from how the athletes are conditioned off the field to how players are utilized.