Risky Coach, Rewarded Fan: Why We Should Root for Chip Kelly to Succeed in NFL

Chip Kelly is about an hour away from making his coaching debut, and I couldn't be more excited.

As anyone who has watched college football knows, Kelly's Oregon squads have been some of the quickest (in both speed of the players and the plays themselves) in the country. Last year, Oregon averaged 2.89 plays per minute of possession, which ranked 8th in the country.

Not only was their pace quick, but so has their ability to score. Here's a breakdown of Kelly's teams and where they have ranked in various categories (all stats from ESPN.com rankings except where noted):

	Points/game		Rank
2009	36.1		8 of 120
2010	46.8		1 of 120
2011	46.1		3 of 120 (Hou/Ok St)
2012	49.6		2 of 124 (La Tech)

Fourth Downs Made Made Rank Attempted Attempt Rank 2009 15 T9 of 120 22 T18 of 120 2010 22 T1 of 120 (G Tech) 32 2 of 120 (G Tech) 2011 14 T15 of 120 31 T4 of 120 2012 20 T7 of 124 31 11 of 124

The fourth-down statistics are mentioned as a way to show that he may be the type to take more calculated risks than the average coach. It will be interesting to see if this side of Kelly is brought to the NFL, as there are universally accepted theories within coaching circles as to avoiding risk when it's not necessary (i.e. going for a 4th down in a certain situation, like Bill Belichick against Indianapolis years ago or when Barry Switzer did it as a Cowboys coach - both failed in late-game situations deep inside their own territory and got absolutely ripped by national media for it). I maintain that there are too many times where coaches play "not to lose the game" as opposed to "playing to win the game" based on worries of media scrutiny and job security if the risks end up failing.

	Plays/game		Rank
2009	69.1		61 of 120
2010	78		7 of 120
2011	74.1		33 of 120
2012	82.8		11 of 124

(Stats from teamrankings.com)

	Plays per point
2009	1.91
2010	1.67
2011	1.61
2012	1.67

Why do I mention all of these statistics? It's to give you an idea of the level of excitement that Chip Kelly can bring to a team. 

I know that college and NFL are two totally different games, but remember one thing: the NFL steals from college football when it comes to offense designs. Current trendy offensive formations (spread offense, read option, pistol) have all come from college football. And not only that, but Chip Kelly's influence was already in the NFL before he was, as Belichick has incorporated the fast-paced offense that Kelly efficiently executed thanks to discussions with Kelly. There may be teams who ran offenses faster in college, but no one ran them more efficiently than Kelly did. While I don't have the rankings or specific stats on how efficient these quick offenses are (in terms of plays per point -PPP or points per minute of possession - PPMoP), I do believe that Oregon's rankings the last three years of the Kelly era in terms of PPP or PPMoP would have to be in the top 3 or 4 of the nation each year.

If Chip Kelly succeeds in the NFL, here's a few things we will see change:

1. Higher Vegas Point Totals  - Right now, a high listed point total for an NFL game as Vegas sets lines is in the mid 50s. If Kelly is able to efficiently run a quick offense, you may see games involving the Eagles approaching the low-to-mid 60s (college-like).
2. Rejoicing Fantasy Owners - You will see a lot more Philadelphia Eagles drafted than normal in a fantasy football draft, as smart owners will salivate at the prospect of owning guys who will potentially play in 10-15 more snaps than the average offensive player on other teams.
3. Copycats - As with anything that works efficiently for one team, you will see teams speed up their offenses in an effort to take advantage of defenses who may not always have the right personnel on the field for certain formations and are likely to get tired quicker. While not evident in their 28-2 drubbing to the Chiefs, the Jacksonville Jaguars have plans to run a quicker offense than in year's past, as noted to C.D. Carter in an XN Sports Interview w/ Maurice Jones-Drew during the preseason. It could be argued that his effect on the NFL is already here, based on the fact that MJD mentions that the Jaguars want to run more plays than the Patriots, who already have the Kelly stamp on them.
4. Softening on the Risk-Adverse Approach by Coaches - As I discussed in the fourth-down statistics portion of this article, one thing that is hard for NFL coaches (or coaches in many leagues for that matter) to do is to take risks that have been deemed unnecessary by the rank-and-file. If Kelly can establish a precedent where going for two-point conversions at weird points in a game (Oregon attempted 18 two-point conversions on their first touchdown of a game in Kelly's four years, converting 15) or taking chances on fourth-and-short more than the average coach, you may see more coaches take chances that they otherwise wouldn't have. Then again, this would likely depend on how secure a coach feels in his current role and whether or not he could survive the media and public onslaught.

Here's to hoping that Kelly succeeds, as I think the NFL (as with anything in life) needs its feathers ruffled every so often to improve its product even more.