Oregon Football: Chip Kelly and the Ducks Must Win Rose Bowl for Elite Status

Who would have ever guessed that Chip Kelly, one of the most innovative and brilliant offensive minds in all of football, had his first coaching stint on the defensive side of the ball?

That's right folks, Chip Kelly's first coaching job was at Columbia University in 1990 as a secondary and special teams coach for the freshmen team.

Eventually, Kelly found his way to New Hampshire where he would begin to establish himself as perhaps the best offensive innovator in college football. From 1999 through 2006, Kelly led New Hampshire to new heights and consistently set and broke offensive records with his spread option attack.

After several years for New Hampshire, Kelly perhaps made the greatest move of his life to becoming offensive coordinator for the Ducks of Oregon. During his first season in 2007 as offensive coordinator, Kelly established a spread offense that led the Pac-10 in scoring as well as total offense.

In just two seasons at offensive coordinator for Oregon, the Ducks set records in offense and scoring in back-to-back years and were one of the highest rising teams in the nation during this period.

After the promotion and eventual departure of Mike Bellotti from the University of Oregon, Chip was promoted to head coach of the program and began what has been an illustrious career as head coach in 2009.

Under Chip Kelly's system, the Ducks have gone 33-6 and have risen to national prominence and don't look to be fading anytime soon. He has established a mentality of winning at the university and has taken the Ducks to three straight Pac-10/12 Championships that have culminated in two Rose Bowl appearances and the Ducks' first-ever BCS National Championship appearance in 2010.

Kelly's East-Coast attitude always has the press swooning for quotes and the way he dictates himself on the field as a leader of not just a football team but a group of men, has molded Kelly into one of the most respected coaches of his decade.

He conducts himself with a certain humility that resonates a strong message throughout the community that we are all just a part of a bigger plan that has been consistently built throughout history.

In one of the more defining moments of Kelly's legacy as a respectable and humble coach, Kelly took a moment to honor the President of the University of Oregon Richard Lariviere during the Pac-12 Championship Trophy presentation.

If you have not heard about the firing of Lariviere, it was an ugly affair that was a political move by the Oregon University System (OUS), a state institution that has authority over the universities in the state of Oregon.

Lariviere brought the University of Oregon to new heights and recognized the need for better funding for state schools and wanted Oregon to become a part of something greater, but the OUS board thought this would be too strenuous on the rest of the schools within the system and eventually cost the OUS board their jobs.

It was a selfish move by selfish people and everybody affiliated with the University opposed this move. Not only did Kelly give the game ball from the Civil War against Oregon State to President Lariviere, but he also presented the Pac-12 Trophy to the "true leader of the University" in one of the most moving moments in Oregon football history.

He has consistently referenced that he is just another player in the grand scheme of Oregon football, and while that may be so, he may be the greatest piece of the puzzle. Kelly is just too humble to admit it.

And yet, despite taking the Ducks to new heights, despite becoming one of the most prolific and innovative offensive minds in the history of college football, and despite numerous coaching awards and three Pac-12 Titles, Chip Kelly's legacy is not yet complete. In fact, it seems far removed from that.

Despite losing just six games over his career as head coach at the University of Oregon, two of those games have been in BCS Bowl. A 26-17 loss against Ohio State in the 2010 Rose Bowl and a 22-19 loss to Auburn in the 2011 BCS National Championship.

Though he will and many would argue that he has already established himself as one of the great coaches in Oregon history, Chip Kelly needs a win in the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers to prove that he is indeed an elite college coach.

If there is one thing that has tarnished Kelly's legacy so far, it is the fact that he has yet to win a BCS Bowl game despite having one of the best teams in the nations. Though the teams opposing the Ducks have not been easy by no means, the Ducks have generally looked flat and out of place in these high profile games and don't compose themselves really until the second half of games.

The title of elite coach goes to those coaches who can effectively manage and win big games when put in high pressure situations, and Chip Kelly as not done that so far. Yes, he has had big games during the regular season that he has won, but when an opponent has had time to prepare for his offense, Kelly has fallen victim to other coaches' schemes.

A win against the Wisconsin Badgers would erase all the doubts. With a win over Wisconsin, both Kelly and the Ducks into the elite realm of college football and create a legacy at Oregon that has been absent throughout the history of the University.

Kelly would finally have a big BCS bowl win under his belt and would solidify himself as an elite coach in just about every aspect of college football.

Much of what has been said about Kelly so far can also be said about the Oregon football program as a whole.

Oregon football, for the past few years, has been in the national spotlight and yet many still do not see them as on the same level as programs like Ohio State, Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma. For many people, the Oregon Ducks are just a fad that is running its own course at the top of the Pac-12.

With flashy uniforms and athletic speedsters that create an exciting atmosphere, many consider the Ducks as quick entertainment rather than as an elite football program.

A win over the Wisconsin Badgers should change that perception, and it will come at just the right time.

The Ducks are only the second team in Pac-10/12 history to win three straight conference titles (the other being USC), and have been one of the most dominant teams in the league since 2007. With USC coming back into the BCS picture in 2012, it is imperative that the Ducks prove to the nation that they are here to stay and not just a fad.

A win against Wisconsin would mean immense things for the program. Not only would the lay claim to their first Rose Bowl in decades, but the Ducks would also place themselves in prime positioning for yet another BCS Title run in the 2012 season.

Already ranked No. 5 in the BCS polls, beating the Badgers in the Rose Bowl would give the Ducks a likely Top-Five preseason ranking next year and would assert themselves as one of the top teams of the decade so far.

Winning the Rose Bowl would give the Oregon football program that final huge win that could propel the University into the elite ranks in the nation.

Sure, the Ducks may have made a case to be considered a Pac-12 dynasty as of late, but a win against Wisconsin would only make people speculate to just how good a program Oregon is truly becoming.

The potential is there for the Ducks to rise and join the elite ranks of teams such as Alabama and Oklahoma as perennial contenders in the BCS, but it has not yet been reached. Oregon is almost to the point of becoming an elite program, and a win over the Badgers in the 2012 Rose Bowl would only help to cement their building legacy in college football.

Fans of the Ducks around the country know that this University has the potential to become one of the great legacies in college football and that Oregon is a rising power. The problem is that the rest of the nation still sees them as a popular story that has been lingering around for a couple of years and will eventually die off.

For the Ducks and Chip Kelly to prove the nation wrong and assert themselves among the elite programs in college football, Oregon must win the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Whether or not they can do this we will find out on Jan. 2, 2012.