Three things made Chip Kelly Sporting News National Coach of the Year. No, five things: wins, organization, energy, Xs and Os, and relationships.
The Portland Tribune's Kerry Eggers has a great feature on Kelly and his ability to relate to players. These kids love and respect their coach, and it's hard to think the stone-faced tyrants like Nick Saban or Gene Chizik would inspire the same loyalty and enthusiasm.
Chizik and Saban use a fear model in their coaching. It's the old school approach favored by Bear Bryant or Woody Hayes back in the day. Players would work hard out of fear of being singled out, and one or two times a week, practice deteriorated into ass-chewing ranting humiliation. This used to be the standard. High school and peewee coaches aspired to be Vince Lombardi or Mike Ditka, grabbing a player by the uniform shirt and spitting red-faced expletives until a 6-7, 300-pound tackle (or a 4-6, 105-lb. one) cowered into submission.
That works for a while. You can create a lot of discipline being a tyrant, but a team that learns to trust their skills and love their coach is better prepared for pressure and adversity. They will believe they're ready for the big stage, and they will believe in each other. And they will love playing football and be eager to practice. Dread keeps people in line, but love inspires them.
On January 10th, the country is going to see a loose, confident, inspired Duck team totally prepared to play their best. And their best is good enough to compete for the biggest prize in college football.
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