Chip Kelly predicts how offensive play-calling will look at Ohio State

Ohio State made a surprise addition to their coaching staff this offseason with former UCLA head coach and offensive mastermind Chip Kelly joining the Buckeyes’ staff as the offensive coordinator.

Kelly is regarded as one of the best offensive play-callers in college football, a reputation that Ohio State had coach Ryan Day has also built up during his career. And following the Buckeyes’ first spring practice, Kelly was asked how he foresees the play-calling duties being handled this upcoming season between himself and Day.

“I still think the play-calling part will be a collaborative effort, and by that I mean that if it’s a good play I called it and if it’s a bad play he called it,” Kelly said getting a laugh from media members. “Because the great part as an assistant coach is you can just point the finger a little bit and say hey, I wanted to do this but he trumped me.”

Kelly goes back to his role as a coordinator for the first time since 2008 at Oregon, subsequently serving as a head coach for the Ducks, the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Fransisco 49ers, and at UCLA for the past six seasons. But as he reverts back to strictly being in charge of the offense, he anticipates the play- calling duties being collaborative.

“We haven’t actually discussed game day yet, we’ll see how that operates. But everywhere I’ve been it’s been a collaborative effort and all of a sudden someone that’s calling the plays isn’t pulling one out of left field that you hadn’t practiced and hadn’t been part of your offense and said hey lets do this,” Kelly explains. “We’re not running the annexation of Puerto Rico, we’re not coming up with something special in the middle of the fourth quarter that we haven’t done.”

Kelly made it clear that the Buckeyes will not be looking like the Little Giants this upcoming season, breaking down his philosophies that breed offensive success.

“But I think the key to really being successful on offense is how you game plan, how you put it all together, and then how you practice and train for that so that you get a chance to execute it. Because the player’s confidence comes from their demonstrated ability that they’ve done this so many times in practice that when they get out on the field that this is like that to them,” Kelly said snapping his fingers.

“It’s not that they do it till they do it right, it’s that they practice it so much that they can’t do it wrong. So I think it’s that whole part of it that’s really the key to being a really good game-planning team.”

Practice will make perfect for the Buckeyes’ offense with day one of spring ball under their belts. And it will surely be intriguing to see how the plays are called in Columbus with the Buckeyes already featuring one of the most talented offenses both on and off the field in the country ahead of the 2024 season.