by Jeff Arnold
This year the Philadelphia Eagles and Boston Celtics both have new coaches in Chip Kelly and Brad Stevens, respectively. Although coaches for different sports they both have one thing in common: coming from an extremely successful college program. Not only do they share this attribute but both have the opportunity to revolutionize the sports they coach and usher in a new era of coaching and leadership.
Both coaches are known for bringing high levels of success to schools that have historically struggled in major sports. Sure, Oregon (Kelly’s former employer) has always been average to slightly above average in football but never had they seen such consistent success as when Kelly brought his up-tempo, no-huddle offense to Eugene and led the Ducks to four consecutive Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games. As for Stevens, he led little known Butler to back to back national championship game appearances and, in 2010, became the youngest coach ever at 33 years old to coach his team to a Final Four appearance. Stevens is known for bringing a calm and disciplined demeanor to the court which is reflected in his team’s attitude in games. He also is one of the heavy proponents for utilizing statistics to aid his team and put the best five players on the floor as possible. Both coaches have unique strategic characteristics that could change their sports permanently.
For Kelly, many have thought that his up-tempo offense would not work in the pro game; players are too fast, defensive coordinators can make adjustments too quickly, and the league as a whole is well enough conditioned that they would easily be able to keep up with the fast pace. All of these theories can be debunked if Kelly and the Eagles are successful, and so far they have been. In terms of offense they are second overall in total yards, fifth in total passing yards, and first in rushing. This is even more impressive when you consider that Kelly has Michael Vick (and Nick Foles when Vick undoubtedly gets injured) as his quarterback. Sure Vick isn’t awful by any means, but if the Eagles had a better quarterback who knows where the passing statistics would be. Also if it wasn’t for a defense that is last in almost all major statistical categories, then they might be one of the best teams in the NFL, let alone the NFC. The defensive struggles can’t be blamed on Kelly mainly because he wasn’t given much to work with and, truth be told, his defense’s have always been suspect at best. Bottomline, Kelly’s offensive system is working and this could be the true beginning of “old” football being phased out and new fast-paced, run and gun football being phased in.
As for Stevens, his legacy could be as one of the first college coaches to make the jump and be successful in the NBA. Big name college coaches like John Calipari and Rick Pitino (coaches for Kentucky and Louisville, respectively) all had failed NBA gigs that have landed them back in the college game. Most coaches in the NBA now all rose through the ranks as assistants, very few came through any sort of big time college coaching job. Stevens could erase that trend and prove that big time college head coaches can lead teams to titles in the NBA. This would expand the places that General Managers could look for head coaches in and possibly start a series of coaches that would hone their leadership abilities at the college level before making the jump to the NBA. Brad Stevens, if successful with the Celtics, could be the man who starts this trend and changes the NBA coaching demographic.
Kelly and Stevens can begin a new era in professional football and basketball coaching. The opportunity is there, now it’s up to them to win games.
