Let's Put A Nice, Little Bow On This Chip Kelly Story, Shall We?

Duck cheerleaders >> Another Chip Kelly pic

Since the news came down that Charles Kelly was indeed staying at Oregon, and not leaving for the Tampa Bay Bucs, I've been paying close attention to the reaction of Duck fans everywhere.  The easiest way to gauge how the fan base is feeling is to listen to the fans that call into the local radio shows.  Oh how I love the local sports talk radio caller guy.

This morning on my way to work, I was listening to some local sports radio shows.  They weren't specifically talking about the whole Chip Kelly saga of the past few days, but they were taking calls on it.  People around here still want to comment on it, that's for sure, so why not? 

A few of the callers were concerned about the potential negative effect this whole thing will have on recruiting, both this year and in the future.  Another caller mentioned how annoyed he was at Kelly for putting the program through a distraction like this. 

One caller said something about how once he found out the Kelly had changed his mind and decided to stay at Oregon, he felt relieved and was excited to have Kelly around for four or five more years.  I admired the guy's optimism and all, but I'm afraid he sounds like he still needs a dose of reality or two.

Sooner or later, Chip Kelly is gone.  I'm talking about long gone.  If there are any Duck fans left that believe that Chip Kelly's recent more-than-just-a-flirtation with the Tampa Bay Bucs just "came out of nowhere" or was some sort of fluke or something, they are in store for a letdown.  It'll be much easier if Duck fans everywhere just start coming to terms with reality.  It'll soften the blow the next time this news comes around.

I am not saying that all Duck fans are thinking like this.  I'm not even saying that a majority of Duck fans are thinking like this.  But listening to a few callers this morning showed me that there are at least some people still out there that believe in Chip Kelly's loyalty a little too much.

Listen, I don't know what made Chip Kelly change his mind and stay with the Ducks.  It was most likely something to do with a phone call from Phil Knight.  We will never know any of what happened with that part of the story.  But the nightmare for Duck fans of Chip Kelly leaving is not over, not by a long shot.  In fact, it would wise for the Oregon Duck fan base to start preparing for this to be a reality in the near future.  I still believe that Chip Kelly will make the jump to the NFL sometime before the next two offseasons are over.

The last thing I want to mention about this is about recruiting.  Is Chip Kelly's near departure going to be a negative thing for recruiting, or will it affect it at all?  Well there are valid points to both sides of the argument, but I tend to agree with what columnist Dave Sittler says in the Tulsa World about it:

"In Oregon's case, the news wasn't all good when Kelly eventually decided his future was with the Ducks instead of the Bucs. Now that his serious flirtation with Tampa Bay is public knowledge, his degree of difficulty in recruiting has increased significantly.

Over the next nine days, negative recruiting will be used extensively against Oregon and Kelly. Coaches will make another run at players who have committed to Oregon, using Kelly's pursuit of the Tampa Bay job against him.

That negative approach won't end with next week's signing date. As long as Kelly is Oregon's coach, competitors will plant that seed of doubt about his future with players who have the Ducks on their short list."

And finally, I am solidly of the opinion that Chip Kelly's offense would not really work that well in the NFL.  But Chris Ryan's article over at Grantland.com is the only article I've read that actually gets me to think twice about it.  Good stuff.  Check it out.