The Rise, Fall, and Return of Chip Kelly
After a lengthy hiatus, Chip Kelly is back coaching in the NFL. While Kelly’s first stint in the pros was disappointing, a lot has changed since then, and there’s reason to believe Act II will be different.
The first reason for optimism is the new role Kelly holds. For the first time in his career, he’ll be coordinating an NFL offense rather than serving as head coach. With the Raiders, Kelly will work alongside Head Coach Pete Carroll — the man who dominated Pac 12 football prior to Kelly’s arrival at Oregon.
Another difference for Kelly is that he’s returning with a fresh perspective. Over his 7-year NFL hiatus, Kelly evolved his coaching philosophy to be more player-centric — a stark shift for the man who once believed scheme was the key to success. Sprinkle in a fun collection of talent on the Raiders’ offense, and the Kelly we see in Vegas might be unrecognizable compared to the guy who flamed out in Philadelphia.
To understand what Kelly’s second act might look like, let’s start back at the point where he first became a household name.
Putting Oregon on the Map
Kelly’s first chance to work for a major college football program came in 2007. His innovative offenses at New Hampshire were generating a lot of buzz, and Oregon swooped in to make him their offensive coordinator.
Luckily for Ducks fans, the transition to a larger stage didn’t cause Kelly to blink. His offensive genius instantly vaulted Oregon into college football’s upper echelon, and it wasn’t long before Kelly was rewarded with a promotion. He took over as head coach in 2009 and maintained control of the offense when he reached the top of the totem pole. Offense was Kelly’s calling card, and keeping it in Kelly’s hands meant the Ducks would continue operating at warp speed.
Kelly’s offenses took pride in not only playing fast between the whistles, but also getting to the next play as quickly as possible. This pace overwhelmed his opposition, and it typically wouldn’t take long before the defense couldn’t keep up. Many considered this offensive approach a gimmick, but Kelly’s results spoke for themselves. During his 4 seasons as head coach, Kelly managed to:
- Post a 46–7 record
- Make a BCS bowl game every year
- Participate in a National Championship
- Average over 300 rushing yards in his final season
While pace of play was Kelly’s signature trait, it was the way he used pace that made Oregon unstoppable.
As a coach, Kelly’s biggest strength is his ability to find the weak link in a defense and punish it. He’s relentless in his film study, and he has a tactical mind that can draw up the X’s and O’s to expose what he learned on film. He did his best work well before kickoff, and by the time gameday rolled around, all he’d need was proof of concept. As soon as Kelly exposed his opponents’ Achilles heel, he’d smother them with pace. His offenses would hustle to the line of scrimmage and spam the same concepts again and again until the defense could stop them — all while taking away their ability to communicate or catch their breath between plays.
The pace of play is what set those Oregon offenses apart, but mechanically, the playcalls were quite simple. Instead of asking his team to memorize a lengthy playbook, Kelly preached a small set of plays and asked his players to master them. It was then his job to attach the window dressing that would lure defenses out of position.
This style of play became so successful that it didn’t take long for the NFL to come knocking.
Failure at the NFL Level
In 2013, the Eagles were the first team to give Kelly his shot in the NFL. It didn’t take long for him to make his mark, and the Eagles got off to a red hot start in Kelly’s first year as head coach. In just one year, he took a 4–12 Eagles team to the playoffs and finished the season with a 10–6 record and the NFC East title.
Can you guess what fueled this turnaround?
Yep — a turbocharged offense.
With players like DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy headlining Philadelphia’s offense, Kelly was once again able to rely on speed as his signature trait. Despite the “gimmick” accusations continuing to swirl, Kelly wasted no time proving his philosophy could work at the highest level.
Sadly, Kelly’s success wound up being as short-lived as the time between his playcalls. After just one year, the NFL caught on to Kelly’s approach, and he failed to adapt. It wasn’t long before the locker room turned on him, the losses piled up, and he was let go before he could finish his 3rd season.
Kelly’s next gig was a quick, unsuccessful stop coaching the 49ers. He lasted just one year, and with two failed attempts on his NFL resume, Kelly returned to the college ranks.
Back to College — The Comeback Story
After an unsuccessful stint in the NFL, Kelly spent his next 6 years as the head coach at UCLA. While he never reached the level of stardom he found at Oregon, those 6 years proved to be a valuable learning experience:
“His philosophy back in the day at Oregon as a head coach and a coordinator was [to] go as fast as you can. That evolved when he went to the NFL, and it really evolved when he went to UCLA.” — Urban Meyer on Chip Kelly
While Kelly was once a rigid, unflexible coach who believed his scheme was the secret to success, his time in the NFL humbled him. So much so that after spending 15 consecutive years as a head coach, Kelly volunteered for a demotion.
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Last offseason, Kelly shocked the NCAA when he announced he was stepping down at UCLA to take the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State. Accepting this role was a rare sign of humility from Kelly, and most importantly, the lesser role meant he could focus solely on what he’s most passionate about — coaching offense.
The level of talent at Kelly’s disposal in Columbus dwarfed what he had at UCLA. The Buckeyes are a college football powerhouse, and Kelly was given the keys to an offense littered with 5-star talent. Without head coaching duties bogging him down, his offensive genius evolved at a rapid pace. Despite deploying a scheme that was unrecognizable from his Oregon days, the 2024 Ohio State offense was one of the best in college football. Most notably, it was good enough for the Buckeyes to win their first National Championship since 2014.
So what was the big change for Kelly’s offense?
While a slower pace of play was a notable factor, the most impactful shift was philosophical. Rather than forcing his scheme onto his players and demanding they adapt to it, Kelly evolved into a more flexible, player-centric coach.
Luckily for Raiders fans, Kelly’s new philosophy is following him to Vegas:
NFL Act II — Making the Most of Vegas’ Personnel
Luckily for the now player-centric Kelly, his new roster provides him with a fun cast of players. None of whom are more exciting than this guy:
Despite entering the league as the greatest tight end prospect of all time, Brock Bowers exceeded expectations in year one. He earned First Team All Pro honors, led all tight ends in both catches and yards, and broke Puka Nacua’s record for most catches by a rookie.
One reason defenses couldn’t stop Bowers was his ability to beat them from anywhere. He lined up as a traditional tight end, played every receiver position, and even got some snaps in the backfield. This versatility allowed Bowers to constantly find cracks in the opposing defense, and the Raiders maximized his versatility with a heavy dose of multiple tight end sets. When you look at personnel data, no team ran more 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) than the Raiders in 2024 (35% of snaps).
For example, here’s Bowers getting a chunk play from 12 while lined up as a receiver.
Notice how the play design draws everyone other than Bowers to the left-hand side of the field. Michael Mayer, Vegas’ #2 TE, starts at the bottom of your screen, and the two receivers bunched up with Bowers at the snap run crossing routes to vacate Bowers’ side of the field. This leaves Bowers 1:1 against a linebacker with TONS of room to operate — a mismatch that favors Bowers every single time.
Bowers’ ability to move around the offense is a schematic dream for his new playcaller. No one’s better at finding a weak link in a defense than Kelly, and he now has the perfect chess piece to expose those weaknesses.
Of course it won’t just be the passing game where Bowers creates headaches. A major benefit of 12 personnel is how much easier it is to run the ball when there’s another blocker on the field. Pairing Bowers with Mayer — a traditional tight end drafted 36th overall in 2023 — in these sets will allow Kelly to keep defenses on their toes in both the run and pass game. While the 2024 Raiders didn’t have the personnel to make defenses pay on the ground, that’s another area where big changes are coming in 2025.
The Raiders made one of the more polarizing picks in the 2025 NFL Draft when they selected Ashton Jeanty 6th overall. Despite what modern team-building practices say about selecting a running back in round one, Vegas couldn’t deny Jeanty’s tape:
It wasn’t just Jeanty’s highlights that were enticing though. When you look at the numbers from his final season at Boise State, you may initially think you’re staring at a typo. Jeanty’s 2,601 rushing yards (not a typo!) were just 28 shy of Barry Sanders’ single-season NCAA record, and nearly 1,000 more yards than the #2 back in last year (Cam Skattebo — 1,711 yards).
How did Jeanty manage to post those ridiculous numbers? Obviously his talent was the main factor, but another feather in his cap is a common theme for the Raiders.
Versatility.
Regardless of what run scheme Boise State called, Jeanty found a way to dismantle his opposition. He thrived in inside zone, outside zone, power, counter, and every other run scheme under the sun. His versatility will make his transition to the NFL a seamless one, and dropping him into a Chip Kelly offense alongside a chess piece like Bowers means there won’t be any creative limitations on Vegas’ run game.
Just imagine this playcall, but instead of a 200 lb receiver lead blocking, it’s Brock Bowers and his 243 lb frame paving the way for Jeanty.
When some poor team decides they want to match the Raiders' 12 personnel with a light nickel package, Kelly will do what he does best and attack them relentlessly. The ability to line Bowers up at receiver, then quickly motion him into a tight end alignment allows Vegas to seamlessly shift formations without changing the players on the field.
Once defenses get tired of being gashed by Jeanty and the run game, they may respond by bringing bigger bodies on the field. That’s when Kelly can flip a switch, line up Bowers at receiver, and lean on the passing attack to destroy his opposition.
Building an offense that’s headlined by a tight end and a running back is a unique combo in today’s NFL. The 12 personnel the Raiders ran last year showed promise, and it should be significantly more effective with Jeanty and Kelly in the picture. Improvement here could mean Vegas evolves into one of the league’s trickier offenses to defend.
We haven’t seen an offense built around multiple tight ends take the league by storm since the Patriots back in the Gronk and Hernandez days. Betting on the Raiders to reach that level of success is certainly a long shot, but they might just have the perfect cast of characters to do it.
Plus, if there’s one thing we know about Vegas, it’s this.
There’s no better place to make a long shot bet.
