Chip Kelly Press Conference Reaction Thread

Blount initiated the calls to Petersen and Hout.

Kelly is making clear that this is very much about an individual.

He’s also stated, “there’s a distinct possibility, he could never be back.”

Kelly talking about when to announce this plan. I like how the University is being up front about this right now, rather than just announcing at some point, hey, Blount’s gonna play!

Kelly makes a good point that there had to be finality to the situation. There could not open ended questions about when Blount would come back if there was an “indefinite” suspension. It allowed the team to get past it.

No offense to the Cougs, but this is the best possible time to announce this….

Kelly: “This is not a football decision”

Also, there are “behavioral and academic things that [LeGarrette] has to meet” to be reinstated.

Kelly: “If he can meet what we have in place for him, he deserves to play football again.”

I love Chip Kelly right now.

Team gets a chance to mature as players and as strong men.
Just heard this week about other mature decisions by team members.
No pressure to beat USC (or Fuskies)
Beavers get to bitch.
And in a much less light, U of O, obviously going to take up some ‘Tim Tebow time’ on College Football Live (read national publicity) which IS important for BCS game and recruiting.

And I know it can’t be stopped, but I am so sick of the local news and ESPN showing the postgame aftermath over and over and over…..

anyone wants to know how to get out of half a day of high school…i’ll fill you in but anyway here are some quotes from kelly that i like:

“Not a football decision, it’s a human being decision.”
“My decision, and my decision only.”
“A distinct possibility he will never play here again.”

He did sound like though that he was optimistic about reinstatement after usc. here’s the thing tho, and this is why i am now on board with the whole thing. not ONCE did chip or bellotti mention football stats, nfl draft, anything of that nature. this was purely a process that lgb himself started with his actions, including the fact that it was HIM who initiated the call to boise state, not ck, mb or otherwise.

I always thought the season long suspension was way too much.

I’m glad they are at least considering re-considering their hasty decision.

Roll on Ducks win the PAC 10!

By the way, I have a poll up on OBNUG. Reinstating Blount is in second right now. But of course, you can change all that.

Unless you hate me…S-H-U-F-E-L-T…

I’m going to listen to Canzano’s show this afternoon. I know I shouldn’t but I’m going to.
It’s like looking at a car crash…I can’t help it! Someone save me!!!!

he made one thing very clear both to me and i think to the football community as a whole today, and that was that regardless of football skill, life after this season or the national reaction, he made this decision based on one thing only. Legarratte Blount the human being. Frankly i was on board with the season long suspension, but like a lot of us i feel now that my reaction was based partly on the overflowing frustrations from that night. None of LGBs actions were, and will ever be condoned, but frankly the fact that he did not leave and go play DII ball somewhere, that he didn’t leave entirely, and the fact that HE was the one that initiated the contact with boise state says to me that he realizes the implications of his actions. Giving this man a chance to be successful in not only his life after the U of O, but in showing to the world that he should not be judged for the rest of his life based just on one night shows that chip kelly is willing to say “mea culpa” and open a door that’s just wide enough for lgb to sneak through, if he continues to do the work and have the continued personal growth that he’s had since the incident.

How is this becoming a subject of racism? I have read his articles, and I can’t stand the douche, but where did race play into all of this?

with this decision. Like a lot of you I’m 50/50 on this thing; however, if you listen closely to what coach Kelly was saying during the press conference you can see that this is no way saying that Blount will be come back and immediatly be the number one guy. The quote has been posted on here already, but I love it when a coach says things like “this isn’t a football decsion it’s a human diecsiuon.”

Great stuff. it showed me that coach Kelly is a guy that respects his players, acts as a general (as cliche as that is), but also has the all-important-trait of humility — a trait that all good teachers must have — the ability to critically think about and analyze a situation after it has happened and say “you know what…I may have been wrong on this one.” That is something that is so rare in sports, especially in college football where coaches are prideful and it’s almost always there way or the highway.

I find it refreshing (as a teacher myself) that we have a coach who is willing to make the unpopular decision (and let’s face it, almost everyone is 50/50 on this thing so he’s bound to upset everyone) for the sake of the player and his teammates. Robert Smith said it best this morning: the coach is like the father for 100+ football players…who knows the pulse of the family better than the coach? People who disagree with the decision can come up with all the theories they want (call me naive but I believe Kelly when he says this is all about LG the person and not LG the football player), but I can’t begin to tell you how much respect I have for Kelly for showing humility, and the ability to see that Blount was putting in the effort, and there should be some hope for a guy who is genuinely trying to rehabilitate himself.

Sorry this is long, but today I am extremely proud to be a Duck fan because we have a coach who isn’t pompous, self-serving, or all about the “W’s”…we have a coach who cares about his players, and anyone who thinks this will affect recruiting…well, you’re right…players around the country will see a coach who cares about their players beyond the field, and that is something that is rare in this age of college football.

I don’t think LG will even see the field as a starter this year (and I think that fact is getting lost with all of the Canzano’s and such who fail to see the nuances of this rehabilitation plan), and if by some chance LG does hold up his end of the bargain then I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing him as a third stringer…but even that is a big time victory for LG and for giving him hope — just because he’s going to see the field again doesn’t mean the gameplan deviates from what’s been working.

Congrats, Chip…you made a great decision today.

The press conference acknowledged what LeGarrette has accomplished in the past four weeks. He has shown genuine contrition, been a commendable teammate when he could have walked away from the program and school, and made the most of the opportunity awarded to him in the punishment.

I supported the punishment when it was laid down, and still do. I feel the consequences were appropriate given the totality of his past transgressions and everything that followed the punch. However, it also showed that the team and school would not turn their backs on the man.

I’m not sure how I feel about the prospect of LeGarrette rejoining the team, but I do know that the manner in which he has carried himself since that night has pleased the coaches and athletic department, who are willing to acknowledge the positive steps he has taken and afford him the opportunity to earn his way back if he keeps making those steps. After all, they do reduce jail sentences for good behaviour.

On a side note, Chip must not enjoy the 24 hours before a game. Off the top of my head I can think of two Jim Rome interviews, and now a press conference that is sure to be nationally scrutinized within 24hrs of a game.

This is Life. What are we going to do? I think that I know. I think that we are going out to Autzen tomorrow, some perhaps only in their minds, and I think that we are going to watch a football game that is played with passion and intensity that will surprise and affect all who have the privilege of watching it. I think that this team has now gelled, as many opined that it would, several games into the season. There was evidence sufficient against Cal; the WSU game is going to be pure joy. A band of brothers has lost one irreplaceable part on the field of battle and has been given the opportunity to visualize and support the return of another who was considered lost.

  In the Prodigal Son, the Father could see his lost son approaching from afar. He could not rush out to meet him; he had to wait until the Prodigal returned on his own. This is a timeless, powerful lesson in each of our lives. May we remember and Pass It On.

For a nice word from our competitors tomorrow, Nuss from Coug Center has a great take on the Blount situation. It’s really refreshing to have an opposing fan leave competing emotion at the door and look at this on a personal level.

Bring on the video of My Cousin Vinnie on the porch of the hunting lodge…. “Can we load just one more thing on the outcome of this case?”
Somebody cue that up for me…I don’t know how to do it.
Jeeeez, talk about drama! Tim Tebow ain’t shit. Him AND Sam Bradford together are small potatoes. Everybody’s got an angle.

Saw this

So we’re all being played for fools? This isn’t as magnanimous of Kelly as we think – it’s people putting pressure on Kelly, Bellotti and the university. I understand LGB’s parents making pleas, but there are lawyers and outside organizations involved. I’m not sure if this should change how I feel about this whole situation.