USC Reaches Out To Chip Kelly?


This is not hard to believe because I’ve heard USC has reached out to the agents of around 20 coaches, much like two years ago. Kelly would make a splash. And maybe he appeals to Pat Haden because Haden knows he won’t be around to deal with Kelly.

72 thoughts on “USC Reaches Out To Chip Kelly?

  1. Please not that flake, his NCAA problems and his gimmicky offense. We want someone who will play USC football like we watched yesterday!

    • Last week vs Oregon impress you too … how about those Kiffin like performances vs Zona and CU.
      Some of you people are just plain …….

    • A flake that had a better winning % than Pete Carroll in the P10 and overall. One who beat Pete. His gimmicky offense has had Oregon in the national title game 2 of the last 4 years and has one heisman. Other than bama, all the other schools winning the national title run a form of the spread. I guess you would prefer student body left and right. Offenses of yesteryear.

      • Marcus Allen was pointed re. that very issue ‘spread offense’ about 4 weeks ago on PMS he bluntly stated that most college players are not ready for the NFL because of the spread offense and Kelly’s stint with the Eagles would seem to more than confirm that.

        Allen went on to say that USC needed to get back to what always made other teams terrified to enter the Coliseum and play – the run game – the offense loves a running back that keeps them moving forward and the defense loves a chance to shut down thei other team.

        • Spread offenses will go the way of the wishbone. Colin Kapernick was the poster child for Next Gen NFL. How’s working out? If USC wants to look like a Big 12 Arena Football school, go hire Kelly. Big mistake in my opinion.

          • I didn’t say there was no rush offense – the Kelly playbook emphasis has always been on up tempo high speed play calling, pass oriented and execution.

      • Jackson, the critics here don’t like facts, and don’t like research. They like the past. As you stated, Ohio State, ND, Oregon–they all run a version of the HUNH spread. Everyone but Alabama and Stanford.

        And I’ll bet that Nick Saban is wondering which direction to move going forward.

        Everyone said the same kinds of things about the West Coast offense at first. PC praised the USC tradition, and then he switched to a QB-centric scheme–not the old student body right of John Robinson and McKay.

        And this QB that PC plays in Seattle. What’s the best thing about him? Is he like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? Well, no, he’s short, mobile, can scramble, and he’s athletic.

        And how is Mariota doing in the NFL?

        And how is Cam Newton doing?

    • We disagree on this one. He’d be the most likely to succeed of all the names. He’s innovative, forward-thinking, and obsessed with football.

      I’m not so sure about his defensive thinking, although he’s probably learning a lot in the NFL.

      But with the right DC, USC would be a complete powerhouse. At Oregon, Kelly didn’t have access to top 5 recruiting classes. In the NFL, no team has huge personnel advantages. At USC, Kelly could combine his offensive scheme and ideas with a much broader/deeper recruiting reach.

      Urban Meyer is a reasonable analogy to Kelly, but not as innovative or smart, and Meyer has done all right.

      What Kelly would not be good at is suffering fools gladly.

      USC would need a buffer.

      • You’re assuming Kelley is the same as PC was coming out of NE back in 2000. I don’t think any of us change that much unless we are forced to and based on the way Kelly’s stint at PHIL has so far played out he can’t seem to settle on a quarterback and when he does select one it’s not over night that said QB gets his ideas.

        USC can ill afford to hand over the reins of the programs to a guy about to get sacked merely because he is an NFL HC – he is but not a very good one by a long shot.

        You bring him in and if it goes south that’s a minimum of 3 years dealing with his impact on the department, recruits, fans and media – not smart.

        If Helton takes down Stanford Haden is not going to risk the media and an upswell for his retention – that’s the surest way to replace Helton and I’m not sure that is reason to discharge him (Helton).

        There is nothing but risk with Kelly

        • Totally disagree. Google “Bill Barnwell”, who wrote a good article on Kelly as coach vs. Kelly as GM. His first two years in the NFL were successes. Then he took over personnel, and that has not gone so well.

          Kelly is the most likely to succeed at USC of all of them. He already HAS succeeded in CFB, and succeeded BIG. Give him USC’s recruiting prowess, and he’ll come as close to dominating the Pac-12 as is realistically possible–in this era of abundant, equally shared TV money.

          I think that Helton is doing the right thing with the current QB & personnel at USC, which was not suited for Sark’s scheme. Plus, Sark was never a great CFB coach.

          Remember, Kelly succeeded with a series of QBs in a row. He’s a big-time offensive mind. When Bill Belichick wanted install HUNH, he hired Kelly as his consultant. Bill Belichick is THE best coach in the world. He knew who should be consulted.
          If Helton beats Stanford, he’s got to be the favorite. But that’s because of the politics. Helton is no Kelly.

          Where did you get your ideas about Kelly as college coach? I suggest you do some research on the internet.

          • Same place you did boyo – 3rd party reports and I might add the last thing USC needs right now is someone who hasn’t figured out he’s not a winner in the NFL.

  2. Scott,
    Using your logic, wouldn’t any coach appeal to Haden because he won’t be around to deal with him?

  3. Just like last time, the most embarrassing part of this will be all the big names that must have said no for it to end up a day trip to grab either Petersen or Sark, both of whom are actually good coaches and good enough to recruit and lead at USC.

    Find someone competent and willing. Helton fits that bill. Give him 3 years to shine.If it doesn’t work out, don’t set the place on fire. Eventually, the big names will see USC as a stable place and actually be interested when the time comes.

      • Also true. BUT, Haden has put himself in the position where he can’t gamble all that much this time around.

    • Sark was about to be fired at UW when we bought his staff out. Its amazing how average he was with the best talent in the p12. Chris Petersen is a stud of a coach who we would have been very fortunate to hire. Yet, he doesn’t drink the way the guys in heritage hall do.

      • How do you hire Sark over Petersen?

        Not saying Petersen was a natural for L.A., but Sark was a natural for mediocrity, even before his psychological problems came to light.

  4. Doesn’t matter who the coach is, he just has to stay out of the way of the players. No player ever progressed beyond what he learned in high school. They can figure out their own individual game plan themselves and it will win every time. Right Wolf!

  5. I hope the Rosen one keeps mouthing off. He’s very self-absorbed and think’s he’s God’s gift to this Earth. This was well known during
    camps while he was a recruit. I’m very happy that he’s a bRuin.

    UCLA hasn’t beat a USC team with a full roster since 2006!

    Fight On! and beat the farm!

    • You got that right his (Rosen’s) comments post-game were full of sour grapes even his own team mates and Mora recognized the skill and game plan USC brought yesterday to that contest.

  6. Well I guess if you can create a news item Scott good for you – Kelly isn’t coming here period.

    • Kelly didn’t have the talent that he would at SC. He needed to put everyone on offense. Kelly’s offense is so fast that his defense is out on the field twice as much, yet his defense was still in the top 50% of the P12. We will pair him with a stud DC.

    • You may be right.

      CK probably does not like L.A., but he’s so workaholic that it might not matter where he is. As with Saban.

      Also, he’s very experimental and curious. I could see him not being ready to leave the NFL. His downfall this year was was as GM–reaching for a QB, and some other players for his scheme. He knows MM, and might see that as a more interesting experiment for his curious nature.

      I do think that Kelly would seek to play better D at USC. Isn’t that a lot of the lesson in Philly? At Oregon, the best players came to play for Kelly, and that meant offense players. At USC, he would need a top DC, who would operate independently. A Pendergast type.

      What I read is that his buyout is huge–unless the separation is really mutual.

  7. “Rosen is a freshman; welcome to the bigs, kid, now let’s see what you got,” I wrote before the game.

    Well, the defense pressured the guy and he got scared and erratic. He fumbled for an SC touchdown, and had 2 interceptions. Game over. You lost it for your team, the first big game of your career.

    Before the game he was asked if SUCLA could beat SC.– “Absolutely.” Did he man up after the game?– SC defense was not that great, they did not surprise us, he replied. He is a bruin through and through

    Before the game, he was Boastin’ Rosen.

    Now he is Roastin’ Rosen because the Trojans just finished Toastin’ Rosen.

    • If you’re going crow Walnut, at least act like an adult. Your opinion has little baby rant written all over it.

    • yes, winning titles and 89.4%+ of our games would really be a drag. That was his winning percentage at Oregon.

      • Thank god Kelly wasn’t hired, and that NC game for the Ducks????!! We’re not Oregon!

  8. He would be the absolute worst hire. USC football is smash mouth and physical. That ain’t Kelley. He will get one more year in Philly. Go get Gruden!

      • Jackson, his screen name is “Monarch”. We should not expect a modern, experimental attitude.

  9. Question – were USC to lose this Saturday what bowl are they assigned to? Santa Clara – Foster Farm (4th place)
    Same question for Stanford? – San Diego – Holiday Bowl for 3rd place

  10. Who did Rappaport get his info from? Someone at USC or Kelly’s agent? His agent his generating “interest” so that his client gets another job rather easily. This is called “The Charlie Weiss” tactic. Generate interest for your client so he scores a big pay day from some “sucker”. On the flip side, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if “The Capper” took this bait hook, line, and sinker and hires Kelly. If he does this, “The Capper” better enter the Witness Protection Program.

  11. I don’t like Kelly and do not want to see him come to USC. But that being said, no matter who is named as the next coach he will be reviled by a goodly #’of fans and his accomplishments will never be enough and his shortcomings exaggerated. Their is no perfect hire and Haden cannot win the PR battle. He is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn’t.

    • That’s in the short run. But 3-4 years from now, USC will or won’t become the most dominant team in the Pac-12. If it DOES, Haden tenure will be resurrected, and he will be remembered as a successful AD.

      If he’s not managing with the next five years in mind, he didn’t deserve that Rhodes scholarship to Oxford.

    • While I like the pro coaches, there really isn’t a precedent for a great nfl coach going to the college game. The true home run would be Kelly who has a better winning % than Pete Carroll with much less talent.

      • John gruden, bringing back carrol those will be the homeruns. His style of offense is not what usc wants. That style of offense does not win championships

        • Gruden has a 0.541 record in the NFL. I wouldn’t mind Gruden, yet nothing in his resume says he will dominate the collegiate game. Plus, he has been approached many times before by other top schools and has never left his $8M/year job with espn. Chip Kelly’s record at Oregon was 0.894. Better than Pete Carroll.

        • Ohio State?

          Auburn?

          Did you know that John Gruden spent about month in Oregon talking to Kelly about offense, and that they became very close? Gruden was so interested that Kelly actually suggested that Gruden get more involved. Kelly offered to hire Gruden as OC for a year. Gruden was really tempted, but his wife did not want to move to Eugene.

          Belichick hired Kelly to consult and teach Belichick HUNH. Belichick–the best coach in the world!

          You guys have read zero about how talented Kelly really is!

      • Why does everyone overlook Kelly’s success at Oregon? And how his expected success at USC would be much greater than his success at Oregon? The best players at Oregon were there because of Kelly. But USC is a desired destination in its own right. Add Kelly, and it’s a magnet, as it was with PC a couple of years in.

        I don’t understand their thinking AT ALL.

        And I’m not opposed to Harbaugh, Payton, or Gruden, IF THEY REALLY WANT TO COACH CFB.

        What I like about Kelly is what I would have liked about Saban when Alabama hired him. Saban had recently succeeded in CFB, and he knew exactly what he was signing up for.

        That is the scary part about Harbaugh, Payton, or Gruden. Harbaugh can talk to his brother for hours, but he cannot know if HE, John, will be happy in CFB. (And you know he will have NFL offers annually if he is not happy.)

  12. My position has been that I wanted an NFL name guy who would make for a splashy hire. I like the “NFL U” label and a big name NFL guy would certainly sustain it. However, with Helton doing everything I’m asking for every week and the players and recruits rallying behind him, my position is getting harder to defend. We can get caught in a trap thinking that there is only one right answer. The fact is that there are a lot of coaches who could and would win at USC. The big decision to me is whether or not to retain Helton and not so much who you replace him with. I’m never short on opinions, but this is one decision I’m glad I don’t have to make. I won’t be in a position to criticize any decision because it’s not clear to me what you do with Helton. If you don’t hire him as head coach, where does he go? Back to OC on some new guy’s staff? That’s highly doubtful and it seems more likely he would leave the school. I’m stopping short of saying, “hire Helton” but with all things considered, I think maybe some of us (including me) need to open our minds to the possibility that Clay Helton is Mr Right, right now. The guy has been a steady influence throughout all the changes and it just feels like we owe him something more than a handshake and a departure. With that said, I have no interest whatsoever in Chip Kelly.

    • Helton may be lucky to be interviewed for the Memphis job that Fuente just left. He wouldn’t get a sniff at any other job..much like Orgeron. Why? Because they don’t have the resume. If they don’t have the resume for another P12 school, why should they be hired by SC? Why? because our fans don’t understand that the head coach is somewhat important.

      • Because he’s doing the job. The players like him, recruits like him and he’s already there. If Helton can keep the recruiting class together and add to it, at worst it’s a punt. Maybe you keep some guys from trying to turn pro and you keep the momentum we’re building now. You have me arguing against my own position. Let’s see how it goes Saturday and take it up again. My question is what is the timing of any decision? If you are keeping Helton when do you make the announcement?

        • if players want to go, then they should go. There is no guarantee that hiring Clay will keep Cravens in C&G. Also, Clay’s offenses are pretty average. We have only been winning because we have had 10 interceptions and 4 fumble recoveries since the ND game. We are +10 in turnover ratio. That isn’t Helton. That is actually wilcox. I really don’t see Memphis considering Helton because Helton’s offenses aren’t that good. Yet, Max Nikias loves Helton. Then again Nikias doesn’t know the difference between a football and a basketball.

          • Haden seems to have hit a home run, after a two year wait, with Enfield…….this will be the biggest decision for Haden and Haden knows it.

          • Me saying “maybe” shouldn’t have been taken as meaning guarantee, but I see how you made that mistake… I don’t like Helton’s offense either, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Helton is making a case for himself.

      • He coached at Memphis before and that makes sense. I think he’d wait to see what happens here first, but that’s an interesting twist.

        • Ya they called him Bubbles and were glad he left with Kiffin LOL … red flag there , hired by Kiffin

      • I don’t agree. Getting Chip Kelly (or Harbaugh [either one] or Payton), or any top 1% CFB coach is all about timing. If the timing doesn’t fit, and no Clearly superior coach is available, give Helton another year. Better than a long-term deal with a “maybe”.

        • My issue with Kelly is that too many players have spoken against him. There’s too much smoke there for me.

  13. Chip Kelly to USC is the hot topic everywhere … where there is smoke there is not Clay Kiffin

  14. It is real ugly for chip Kelly in philly. From what I keep reading is that he has completely lost that team. His coaching style doesn’t gel in the nfl. This is a guy, who has his players drink a milkshake everyday, and also checks their sleeping patterns. That just does not work in he nfl, and I think his players are about to tape him up, and tie him up to the goal post. That is how much they hate him.

    His coaching works much better in college, because college players are so much younger, and they are not making $10 million a year. I don’t think he would be as good as a fit at USC, as he was at Oregon, but his 46-7 record at Oregon speaks for itself. He is also responsible mark helfrich’s success as head coach. So kelly could leave an everlasting legacy at USC, like bill Walsh did with the 49ers.

    • Bill Walsh was a complete bust at Stanford on two separate stints and i sense the same for Kelly except he doesn’t have the NFL career that Walsh did.

      • Kelly won nearly 90% of his games at Oregon. Better than Pete. Kelly has the college game down. He just doesn’t have the pro game solved. Chip Kelly + better talent at USC = 2017 title

        • really ? Walsh was one win from the Rose Bowl in 1992 , a very tough year in the Pac , also beat #1 ND when ND was really good the Pac was not the garbage of this year

          • Yeah but 1992 was his best year he ended up in the Blockbuster Bowl that year instead and the next and last two years of his efforts at Stanford produced two identical 2 – 4 Pac-10 and 4-7 and 3-7-1
            overall

        • Kelly never beat PC when it mattered
          Kelly played in one BCS CG and lost to Auburn (2011) PC left after 2009 –

          Kelley’s skill set is what he brought from OR and it’s a complete bust in the NFL and one of the major reasons is Kelly is the Eagles de facto GM.

          Look the guy ‘had’ skill – not any more and to further erode what won games for decades for USC – the running game – to completely rip that from our play book, which is what he would do, is foolish at best and in three years the wreckage would be even worse than was left when Hackett got sacked.

          If Helton wins Satuday he deserves a legitmate shot and I’m betting whitebread Haden is hearing just that from an awful lot of USC players that know today what makes an NFL player – it ain’t the spread offense and never will be. The spread offense is the sabremetrics of NCAA football – gm’s (DoiPoto) love it and managers (Scoiscia) ignore it

  15. BS … Sarkisian was hired the day Kiffin was fired , that was obvious. Haden went through some fake motions to make it look like JDR and Petersen were actual candidates … how did that work out for you Pat.
    There are not 20 coaches that can coach at USC , maybe 6

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