Chip Kelly Heads Back to the Rose Bowl, Now Calling Plays for Ohio State

Chip Kelly's trip back to Southern California comes with one item at the top of his packing list: sunscreen. Asked what he was most looking forward to, Kelly joked that after a stretch without sun in Columbus, he needs to stock up, given what the weather report shows.

Kelly's Ohio State team, the eighth seed in the College Football Playoff, meets top-seeded Oregon in a quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. The game is a homecoming of sorts for Kelly, who stepped down as UCLA's head coach in February after six seasons to become the Buckeyes' offensive coordinator.

At UCLA, Kelly went 35-34 overall and 25-13 over his last three seasons. The Bruins seemed to plateau, though, finishing 8-5 in their final year in the Pac-12 after being expected to contend for the conference title. Kelly was reportedly on the hot seat a year earlier before a 38-20 win over USC appeared to secure another season. He has said that coaching quarterbacks ahead of the LA Bowl, following staff departures, showed him he preferred working in position meetings to running an entire program. After exploring a couple of NFL assistant jobs, he chose to join his longtime friend Ryan Day at Ohio State.

"As a head coach, you wear a lot of different hats," Kelly said, adding that he has enjoyed being back in the meeting room with players each day. As a head coach, he explained, he moved between rooms, whereas a coordinator stays with the quarterbacks throughout.

With Kelly calling plays, Ohio State ranks 11th nationally in scoring at 36 points per game and 32nd in total offense at 427.3 yards per game. Quarterback Will Howard has completed 73.2% of his passes, tied with Oregon's Dillon Gabriel for second in the country, and has thrown 29 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Howard grew up a Philadelphia Eagles fan, and Kelly coached that team from 2013 to 2015. Howard said the two have become more in sync as the season has gone on and can openly discuss what they like and dislike in the offense.

Day said Kelly has grown more comfortable as he has learned Ohio State's personnel and experienced the Big Ten for the first time. Day praised Kelly's grasp of offensive football in all its forms, from spread and tempo looks to formations with multiple tight ends, and said the coordinator's top job is to put the offense in the best position to succeed. Day was pleased with the balance shown in the Buckeyes' 42-17 first-round win over Tennessee on Dec. 21, when Howard went 24 of 29 for 311 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the running game gained 156 yards at 4.7 yards per carry.

Kelly also has deep history with Wednesday's opponent. He was Oregon's head coach from 2009 through 2012 and went 46-7 before leaving for the NFL. Since then he is winless in six games against the Ducks, including a 32-31 loss in Eugene on Oct. 12.

He said the offensive staff has studied all 13 of Oregon's games this season. Defensive end Jordan Burch missed the first meeting, one of the major differences this time, and both teams have played seven games since then. Kelly called Oregon's defensive line one of the best in the country and said the goal is to put his players in position to make plays and let them play.