Hail Chip!

Here’s Oregon coach Chip Kelly’s press conference quotes.

Oregon football head coach Chip Kelly

On recent success of the team

“We just had a lot of inexperienced players in that first game. We didn’t play up to our standards…we had one game to find our season and we went out to practice the next day.”

On quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and his effectiveness

“I think first and foremost Jeremiah is just a winner. His record, I think he’s only lost three games once in the Coliseum last year at SC and then on the road at Boise State and on the road at Cal last year, but besides that he’s won every game. He’s got a great skill set to his offense because he’s a dangerous runner. He’s a tough, tough, tough competitor…He’s almost 225 pounds, you know he can run. He’s got a good understanding of what we’re trying to do.”

On first expectations of running back LaMichael James

“Well he was a top player a couple of years ago and I recruited him out of Texas, and felt like he was going to be an impact player. He did a great job on our scout team last year, really prepared on our defense. I watched him just excel on our team last year and thought he was going to be a special part, and he started that again and proved that in camp. So we thought that we could combine the two of them and we would be in pretty good shape. I didn’t know we’d be seeing him in starting role. He’s got great quickness, outstanding speed…he was a 100-meter champion out of Texas. He’s got great vision and toughness. He’s a hard player to knock down because of his size. He’s pretty solid and I think he’s just gotten better each week and it will be exciting to see him match up with this team that USC has on defense.”

On status of defense

“You know I think they play together, they have a great understanding of the system. The players know exactly how they fit within that system. They play with passion, there’s not one individual star on that side of the ball. We’ve obviously seen some injuries in the secondary, but everyone’s got a chance to step up, a chance to play. They’ve really done a good job, and it’s just really how well we practice and how well they prepare I think is the key to our success right now on defense.”

On thoughts of this week’s game

“They’re really good. They got athletes at every position, they have a stable of running backs, they’ve got two outstanding receivers in (Damian) Williams and (Ronald) Johnson. They have a great tight end in McCoy and a great offensive line with speed and athletic on the defense. Pete does a great job of putting those guys in position to make players. It’s a tough scheme to prepare for defensively in terms of what they run because it’s kind of unique. And then obviously (Matt) Barkley is playing right now is certainly can beat you throwing and running so you have to defend the whole field.”

On tight end Ed Dickson

“I think it’s him and McCoy, they’re probably the two best tight ends in the conference. Ed’s a big physical player, he’s 6’5″, he’s 250 pounds, he can really run. He’s the one senior that’s playing for us on the offensive side of the ball so he’s the leader of that group over there. He can create some matchup problems because he is so athletic and so big that you really can’t cover him with a defensive back, but he has the speed to beat a linebacker. It may be an interesting matchup this week because of how fast the linebackers at SC are.”

On relationship with Mike Bellotti and any received advice

“I talk to Mike about SC, I think we have a great relationship. I think it’s kind of unique that Mike brought me here two years ago as the offensive coordinator and then I was fortunate enough to be promoted to head coach when Mike stepped up to be the athletic director. But the best advice Mike gave me is that Mike was the offensive coordinator here back in the 90’s when he took over for coach (Rich) Brooks when coach Brooks left to go to the NFL. He told me he was different than coach Brooks and he had to do things his way and he know I’m slightly different than him and I have to do things my way, and he wouldn’t micromanage me when he was the head coach and I was the offensive coordinator, and he certainly hasn’t micromanaged me now that he’s the athletic director and I’m the head football coach. We have a great relationship, but we haven’t spent any time this year at all talking about upcoming opponents or discussing football. It’s just ‘how are you doing’ or ‘can I help you in any way’ and all those other things. But we don’t discuss X’s and O’s or what SC’s doing on defense or offense or whatever or whoever we’re playing.”