Why Chip Kelly failed as an NFL Coach
Chip Kelly trusted his system until it forced him out of his coaching tenure in the NFL. He realized the system he used in the College game was much different than at a higher level in the NFL.
Chip Kelly never reached success in the NFL for many clear reasons. Defenses just caught up to his system, referees looked down on his hurry-up offenses, and other opposing teams just read Kelly's offensive system like a book.
Defenses in the NFL are just more intelligent compared to defenses in College Football. The defensive side of the ball at a pro-level is just as up-tempo as any pro-level offense desires to be. Most defenses just develop during games in catching up to an offense's tempo. An NFL defense has seen it all; this is nothing new to them. And in Kelly's case, playing against some of the best defenses in the NFL was like a wake-up call for him.
Kelly wanted his offense to be quick and up-beat in the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49'ers. Sadly, his desires were not met. NFL referees would actually prohibit him in some games, as Kelly wanted his offense to maneuver as quick as possible. NFL referees looked down on "hurry-up" offenses due to the fact that officials had to be in position before the ball snaps at all times.
Let's go back in time to that one Monday night football game in 2013, where the Redskins played the Eagles. (Mind you, this was Chip Kelly's first Monday Night debut in coaching the Eagles.) After the game, one referee went on to make a statement about Kelly's "hurry-up" offense, saying how difficult it was for his officiating crew to keep up with Kelly's system. The referee said, "the officials weren’t in position to officiate for a lot of the plays being snapped." Along with this, NFL Head of Officiating Dean Blandino followed up on the statement in agreeing with the referee.
In Kelly's system, the Quarterback is designed to make plays with his arm -- and his feet. All throughout College, Kelly was known for implementing Quarterbacks in run plays, sweeps, and sneak run's. When Kelly got to the NFL, you probably saw how frequent he would try and use some of these plays against the defense. Having the Quarterback constantly run like a chicken with his head cut off his horrifying in the NFL -- especially when a team has invested a lot of money in whomever is at the Quarterback position. If that Quarterback ends up getting injured off a play where he's just scrambling around in making plays like a running back or a receiver, it can put any NFL team in deep turmoil.
Kelly was known for having the Quarterback in being mobile on the field (just ask Marcus Mariota). Many team personnel on behalf of the Philadelphia Eagles staff had warned Kelly numerous times that defenses would pick up on his plays where the Quarterback would use their feet. And with static, immobile Quarterbacks that Kelly has coached in Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, and Mark Sanchez, the Quarterback scramble plays were much anticipated.
Nevertheless, Kelly had actually made an impact in the NFL. During his time, other NFL teams would try to capitalize on Kelly's system, in which certain teams were successful in being able to execute the plays while others were not. For example, the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles had implemented College plays (plays that Kelly had drawn up numerous times in his tenure with Philadelphia and San Francisco) in aiding themselves to win Super Bowl 52 against the New England Patriots. It was just to bad Kelly couldn't be the one coaching this group of Philadelphia Eagles.
Chip will be remembered as one of the many college coaches who have failed in the NFL. His NFL days are over due to the fact that he is back in College Football serving as head coach for UCLA (which should actually be exciting).
But Kelly can probably never come back to the NFL, in which his trust has been lost in failing two NFL teams in the Eagles and 49'ers. To all the College coaches who have failed in the NFL: welcome to the Pro's! Coaches have to realize that this is Pro-level, not collegiate.
Coaches can try and replicate what Kelly did, but it's only a matter of time before defenses figure it out. Defenses are quicker, more sophisticated, and can figure out an offense as easy as anyone thinks. And what happened to Kelly, is just what happened to every College coach that has failed in the NFL: their system faced reality.
