Rodriguez, we thank you. Chip thanks you. Urban thanks you...

If you've been able to watch all three of Oregon's games this season, you noticed something. Nobody huddled. All three of Oregon's opponents have adopted a no-huddle, with some of them spreading their offense more than others.

Tennessee Tech's coach Watson Brown said they changed their offense after seeing Oregon's last year. Teams in high school, college and even a couple in the pros are dabbling with this Oregonesque style offense because it works and it's fun to watch.

But where did Chip Kelly get the idea? When Arizona comes to town, we will be introduced to their new head coach Rich Rodriguez -- the Socrates to Kelly's Plato. The Yoda to Kelly's Obi-Wan. The Carson to Kelly's Letterman. The Bruce Lee to Kelly's Jackie Chan. The Amana Radar Range to Kelly's Sharp Carousel. The Diet Coke to Kelly's Coke Zero. The iPhone to Kelly's iPhone 4S. The Viagra to Kelly's Time-Released Cialis.
(Hey, I'm just having fun here kickin' back with the TV on, letting these float into my head......)
The Jack Nicklaus to Kelly's Tiger Woods.
(OK, I'll move on now.)

Kelly got the idea for his offense when he was in New Hampshire and he visited Clemson where Rodriguez was running this offense as their O. Coordinator. The two of them tell the story in an excellent Oregonian article by Aaron Fentress.

Click the above link for the whole article. The following pargraph sums up the gist of the story.
Rodriguez didn't invent the spread, zone blocking, the no huddle or the option. But his use of all four together helped start a revolution in college football. Kelly has taken it a step further by running similar schemes faster than they'd ever been run before for an entire game.


Who will prevail, Socrates....





...or Sharp Carousel?



It is for this that we thank Rich Rodriguez, Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, and all the other coaches who are revolutionizing football. This will be the fourth consecutive Duck game without seeing a huddle. And this may be the fastest paced spread team to play Oregon yet. Bottom line, its going to be an entertaining game.



I posted a post back in January when Kelly almost left for the Tampa Bay Bucs ( Don't Let Oregon Football Leave With Kelly ).  In it I said the following:

.....what Kelly has done here hasn't just changed Oregon. He's changing football. I don't want to just see Oregon continue to play this way. I would love to see ALL teams play this way. I want to see huddles and automatic punting on fourth down go away with other 20th century dinosaurs like the pay phone and the fat box tube TV.

It appears we have more teams playing huddle-free football today than ever before. I  realized how much I did NOT miss huddles and other boring elements of football when I didn't see them anymore. Now I'm turned off by any team that still huddles.

Why? It's been proven unneccessary. It represents an older and slower form of communication. I think it's beneath the sophistication of today's kids. Finally, second-for-second, it just takes up a huge amount of time in a football game.

Additionally, I roll my eyes when a team faces 4th and 2 on their opponent's 40 yard line and opts to punt. Kelly showed us that given the average punt return, your odds are good to take the chance on the down and go for it.

The new century is the perfect time to ask "Why do we still do it this way?" Coaches like Kelly and Rodriguez have been asking that very question, and football is better for it.

And now for your viewing entertainment pleasure, I present Stephanie Powers, Powers Boothe, Betty Boop, Honey Boo Boo, Bebe Rebozo and Mukhalmood the Wonder Camel in the Cinimagraphic classic that's setting the world on fire: "No Time For Muslims."


With empathy for Duck fans on the east coast, gametime is Saturday night, 7:30 Pacific on ESPN. Gonna be another late one.

Thought of another: The Regis Philbin to Kelly's Michael Strahan.
--KB