Oregon Football: 5 Reasons Chip Kelly Will Go Down as the Greatest Duck Coach

In 2007, coach Mike Bellotti brought Chip Kelly onto the Oregon staff as the offensive coordinator. That may end up being one of the biggest moments in Oregon history.

In 2009, Mike Bellotti made the choice to retire as the Oregon head coach and passed the torch to Chip Kelly, who grabbed it and took off.

Through three seasons, the Oregon Ducks football program has reached a level it had yet to see before. In three seasons, the Ducks have gone to the Rose Bowl twice and the BCS National Championship once, and have won the conference each year.

Here are five reasons that Chip Kelly will go down as the best Ducks coach in program history.

Joe Penkala is a B/R National Featured Columnist who covers college football. You can contact him @joepenkala.

Innovative Offense

Since arriving in Eugene, Chip Kelly has taken the offense by storm and helped put up numbers that have not been seen in Oregon before.

Kelly brought his spread option offense to Oregon and has helped put the right pieces together to run it.

When Kelly took over the offense in 2009 and even more so in 2010, he has sped up the pace and tempo of it.

With a win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, the offensive game plan was validated as Oregon came through with big points in a big game. 

Grounded

If you base Kelly off of his halftime interviews and quick interactions with media, he can come across as short and condescending.

Those who follow the program closely and have had the opportunity to interact with Kelly know that he is extremely grounded and has his priorities straight.

Kelly has been able to gain the trust and respect of his players based on his coaching style and loyalty. He also has been extremely giving when it comes to our troops, who have been honored at the previous two spring games.

By returning to Eugene and turning down the NFL, Kelly has shown his loyalty to the team and the school. 

East Coast Recruiting

When going up against elite programs, Oregon has always found itself in an uphill battle. Oregon used to mainly focused on in-state and West Coast recruits and did well.

Since adding Kelly to the staff, Oregon has been able to expand their reach into Texas, the Midwest and on the East Coast.

By having the ability to reach out to the other coast, Oregon's football program has reached new levels and has had a Top 20 recruiting class in each of the past three years.

Setting the Tone

When introduced as the new head coach in 2009, Chip Kelly was able to set a new tone at Oregon. He came in with the mantra of "Win the Day" and has never faltered from that message.

Kelly has his players focused on the idea of winning the day no matter the task. Players are expected to win at wind sprints, stretching, warm-ups on each and every day.

This message has helped keep the players focused and able to deal with the spotlight that has been placed on them.

Title Hopes

The last reason that Chip Kelly will go down as the best head coach at Oregon is the fact that he will bring a national championship back to Eugene.

Kelly has continued to push the limits of the Ducks program to the point that they barely fell short of winning a national championship on a last-second field goal in only his second season.

With more and more talent finding their way to the northwest to play for Kelly, a national championship is not far off in the future, and his decision not to go to the NFL was based off of the idea of "unfinished business."