Chip Kelly's offense at Oregon averaged 83 plays per game in 2012. In all, the Ducks ran 1,077 plays which would have ranked seventh in the NFL. The Ducks ranked in the top 10 of college football in terms of total plays run twice in Kelly's four years as the head coach of Oregon.
Prior to the start of Training Camp, Kelly explained that he's not married to any one type of tempo, speed or style of attack.
"I've heard guys talk about how we have four or five different speeds and how we do things, but that's not how we do it," Kelly said earlier this month. "There are certain plays we can call where we don't need the defense to be set and there are other plays where we need to get the right look to get in the right play. But a lot of that from a speed standpoint, we never say we want plays snapped in X amount of seconds or anything like that."
There is a lot of mystique regarding what exactly Kelly's offense is going to look like. Will it be the spread offense he ran at Oregon? Will it incorporate some of the philosophies utilized by coordinator Pat Shurmur, who has roots in the West Coast Offense?
An article in the New York Times suggested that it won't be opposing defenses that will slow down Kelly's offense. It will be the referees. There are various rules regarding when the ball must be switched out, substitutions and referee placement that differ from the college ranks.
"We have to make sure teams understand that they don't control the tempo; our officials do," NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino said in the article.
Kelly was unfazed by the report.
"Just happy I made it into The Wall Street Journal for once," Kelly joked. "That's pretty cool.
"We understand the rules of engagement. Dean Blandino and those guys in the league office, met with them at the league meetings. They were here when we were in minicamp. I have no issue with them. We actually embraced the way they do it. Really similar to what we have in college. Tony Corrente, who's a longtime official in this league, was actually the head of the Pac-12 officials. We're used to the style that they run. I see absolutely no problem with it. We're excited to work with them."
Kelly said that there will be officials at the team's Training Camp practice on Thursday.
"It isn't an issue with us whatsoever. We understand the rules, and we'll play by them," Kelly said. "It's a real simple concept to me. If the speed limit is 65, even though I want to go 85, if there's a cop out there, I'm not going 85. It's a real simple concept. We're not going to change them. I like them. We're excited to play with them."
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