Chip Kelly

The Ducks hoped to win their first Rose Bowl since 1917, but lost a close game to Ohio State.

Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

He attended Manchester Central High School and earned his Bachelor of Science in physical education from the University of New Hampshire in 1990.

He played quarterback at Manchester Central and defensive back at the University of New Hampshire.

Additionally, he played ice hockey and basketball during his high school years.

Kelly broke into the coaching ranks in 1990 at Columbia University, where he served as secondary and special teams coach for the freshman team.

The next year, he was outside linebackers and strong safeties coach for the varsity team.

In 1992, he went to the University of New Hampshire as the running backs coach.

He left to become the defensive coordinator at Johns Hopkins University for one season.

He returned to his alma mater as the running backs coach for the next three seasons (1994–96).

He was just in time to devise a zone-blocking scheme for star Jerry Azumah.

From 1995 through 1998, the speedy back raised the profile of UNH football as he rushed for what was then an FCS record 6,193 yards.

Kelly became the first Pac-10 coach to win an outright conference championship in his first season, sending the Ducks to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995.

He changed to the offensive line coach for two seasons (1997–98).

Kelly was promoted to offensive coordinator at New Hampshire (1999–2006).

The Wildcats' offenses averaged better than 400 yards per game of total offense in seven of his eight seasons

In 2004, the school broke 29 offensive school records; compiling 5,446 yards of total offense and scoring 40 or more points in seven games.

Their best offensive output was in 2005 when the Wildcats finished second nationally in total offense (493.5 ypg), third in scoring (41.7 ppg) and fifth in passing (300.1 ypg).

They completed the season with an 11–2 record.

He was named the College Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston following the 2005 season in addition to being selected as "one of college football's hottest coaches" by American Football Monthly.

In 2006, quarterback Ricky Santos won the Walter Payton Award under Kelly's guidance, after Santos finished second in balloting for the award in 2005.

Kelly, along with former Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen, former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, is part of the so-called "New Hampshire mafia" as they all have strong connections to New Hampshire.

Kelly was hired as offensive coordinator at Oregon in February 2007.

His potent spread offense attack was an instant success at Oregon.

In his first season as offensive coordinator at Oregon, the Ducks led the Pac-10 in scoring (38.15 ppg) and total offense (467.54 ypg), and also became the highest scoring team while amassing the most yards in the history of Oregon football.

Prior to Kelly's arrival at Oregon, Dennis Dixon struggled in his first three seasons at quarterback.

Under Kelly's guidance, Dixon was the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

In 2008, the Ducks once again led the Pac-10 in scoring (41.9 ppg) and total offense (484.8 ypg), while breaking the school record marks set the previous season.

He came to prominence as a college football head coach for the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, leading them to the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.

He coached Oregon to three consecutive outright conference championships from 2009 to 2011 and a conference division title in 2012.

He was named the 2009 and 2010 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, 2010 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, 2010 Walter Camp Coach of the Year, 2010 Sporting News Coach of the Year, 2010 AFCA Coach of the Year Award, and 2010 Associated Press Coach of the Year.

On March 31, 2009, Oregon announced head coach Mike Bellotti would be promoted to athletic director; consequently, Kelly would be promoted to head coach.

Kelly helped the Ducks gain national attention in 2009 after an upset of the then #5 USC Trojans on October 31.

On December 7, 2009, Kelly was named Pac-10 Coach of the year.

Kelly coached the Oregon Ducks to BCS games in each of his four seasons as head coach; the 2010 Rose Bowl, 2011 BCS National Championship Game, 2012 Rose Bowl, and 2013 Fiesta Bowl.

His success led to a stint in the National Football League (NFL), where he coached for four seasons, three with the Philadelphia Eagles (2013–2015) and one with the San Francisco 49ers (2016).

Oregon won its second consecutive BCS bowl game after they defeated #5 Kansas State in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl.

What may be considered the most important part of Kelly's résumé at Oregon, however, is that he posted undefeated records against the Ducks most hated rivals, the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington Huskies, something never before achieved by an Oregon coach.

After the NFL, Kelly returned to college in 2018 as the head coach of UCLA Bruins, coaching for six seasons before leaving in 2024 to join Ohio State as their offensive coordinator.

Kelly was born in Dover, New Hampshire.