Can the Chip Kelly-Aidan Chiles pairing spark Northwestern offense?
Chip Kelly and the Northwestern soccer group had been two weeks into coaching camp, and the first-year Wildcats offensive coordinator wasn’t actually up for big-picture reflections.
What does the 35-year teaching veteran, whom NU coach David Braun referred to as “arguably the best offensive coordinator in all of college football history,” need to get out of this stunning pairing with an offense that ranked in the backside half of FBS groups in 2025?
He’s targeted on group objectives, he mentioned, and simply needs to ensure the gamers are getting higher every single day.
Can the former head coach of the high-powered Oregon groups and the coordinator of the 2024 Ohio State nationwide championship offense, plagued by NFL expertise, work magic with NU gamers?
He’s not into comparisons, he mentioned, and he’s extra frightened about whether or not his gamers are profitable every observe by perfecting their particulars.
But Kelly did get philosophical about peanut butter and jelly.
He advised his gamers a parable a few building employee who every single day opened his lunch field and was dejected to need to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After months of the similar response, the boss requested why the employee didn’t ask his spouse to make a unique sandwich, and the employee replied that he made his personal sandwiches.
“The point is you make your own good time,” Kelly mentioned. “So you may’t complain about having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since you made the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“For us, you get excited to come here every day because the people in this building get you excited about being around them. You want to be around them. They’re good people, and they have the same shared common goal.”
Kelly used the story to clarify that he was having fun with going to work every single day as a result of the group was excited and placing in the effort towards one thing good.
But maybe peanut butter and jelly is an effective description of the Northwestern team Kelly walked into in January. Behind a powerful protection beneath Braun and coordinator Tim McGarigle in 2025, the Wildcats completed 6-6 in the common season and 4-5 in the Big Ten, beating Penn State and difficult Michigan earlier than shedding. They had been adequate to win a lower-tier bowl in opposition to Central Michigan however not precisely buzzworthy.
Braun, who has gone 19-19 over three seasons in Evanston, is attempting to battle that narrative, saying his program — with a new $875 million stadium, the Kelly rent and an skilled switch quarterback in Aidan Chiles — ought to dream as huge as convention titles and playoff berths.
If the Wildcats are going to take steps toward those dreams, Kelly, Chiles and a few new staffers, together with quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel, must assist them cook dinner up one thing extra fascinating on offense. That begins with Saturday’s opener in opposition to South Dakota State at Martin Stadium (7 p.m., BTN).
‘Transformative change’
The images went viral in late July as the school soccer world woke again up from its ever-shortening slumber.
Kelly met with reporters at the new Ryan Field wearing a white hard hat with Northwestern’s “N” emblem on it and a purple building vest.
All of the coaches, gamers and reporters on web site that day needed to put on the protecting gear as a result of Ryan Field was nonetheless an lively building zone as tons of of employees whirred round getting the stadium prepared for its Oct. 2 debut in opposition to Penn State. But the images of Kelly — the former head coach of Oregon, UCLA, the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers — had been the ones that bought social media traction.
There was an identical jolt of disbelief, even amongst NU gamers, when the information broke Dec. 30 that Kelly was becoming a member of Northwestern to interchange offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, with whom Braun parted after two seasons.
Wide receiver Griffin Wilde’s first thought was, “This isn’t real.”
“Like, someone is just messing with us,” Wilde mentioned. “A man of this caliber, what’s he doing coming again down to varsity soccer when he was in the NFL? But then I bought a name from Coach Braun and it turned actuality, and it was unbelievable.
“I was pretty shocked at first, but now, to have him in my corner, have him be here, it’s truly special.”
When Northwestern introduced Kelly at a information convention in February, Kelly mentioned he needed to affix the Wildcats as a result of he noticed them as “an up-and-coming team.” He preferred the individuals he was going to work with, together with student-athletes he noticed as severe about all the things they do.
Kelly has had ups and downs in his profession. The highs got here main Oregon to a 46-7 report and a BCS title sport berth from 2009-12 and profitable a nationwide championship as Ohio State offensive coordinator in 2024. Over six seasons at UCLA he was 35-34, together with 25-13 with two bowl video games in his ultimate two seasons, however he didn’t fairly get the Bruins the place they anticipated.
As for the NFL, he was fired after three years as the Eagles coach and after one with the 49ers. Kelly’s time as the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator final season ended after simply 11 video games and a 2-9 report. All had been accompanied by stories of tradition points or working relationship clashes.
Still, Braun didn’t must do a lot explaining about why he preferred the pairing. And that hasn’t stopped him from singing the praises of Kelly, together with at Big Ten media days in July.
“I felt like the Northwestern offense needed a transformative change, and my goodness is hiring Chip Kelly a transformative change,” Braun mentioned. “It’s his expertise, it’s his outside-the-box considering, it’s his understanding of how we will place our guys to go well with their strengths inside the offense.
“And the thing that stands out to me the most, sitting in offensive staff meetings … the amount of times that I’m listening to conversation, the why behind the way that we’re doing things on offense and starting to recognize how difficult that is to defend. When you’re sitting in there as a former defensive coordinator, you’re going, my goodness, this is challenging for Tim to deal with in spring ball and for our opponents to deal with in the fall.”
As Kelly settled in, Braun praised the collaboration amongst Kelly, McGarigle and the workers, saying their competitiveness, expertise and maturity present as they establish concepts to construct from and people they should scrap.
Braun, 41, is one in all the youngest head coaches in the Big Ten, and he vowed to attract from the 62-year-old Kelly’s information.
“I just appreciate Chip’s willingness to push me in some areas where he feels like, ‘Dave, we need to improve in this area,’” Braun mentioned. “I additionally respect his willingness to say, ‘You know what, Dave, I’ve by no means executed it that method earlier than, however you’ve gotten conviction in that and also you’re the head coach. That’s the method we’re going to do it.’
“It’s invaluable as a head coach to have someone on your staff that you can go to and ask for insight, and input is something that I do not take for granted.”
Kelly introduced a number of assistants with him, together with offensive line coach Tim Drevno and tight ends coach Bob Bicknell, who’ve many years of expertise in the NFL and at Power Four colleges.
Neuheisel joined Northwestern after a “whirlwind” 12 months that he started as the UCLA tight ends coach earlier than changing into the offensive play caller after midseason workers adjustments. New UCLA coach Bob Chesney didn’t retain him, and when Neuheisel was supplied the NU job, he mentioned, “OK, where do I sign?” and acquired the largest coat he might discover.
He left Los Angeles, the place he had been a UCLA backup quarterback after which assistant coach for eight seasons, together with six beneath Kelly.
Neuheisel referred to as Kelly “one of the few people in the world that I’ve ever seen football with totally eye to eye,” and rejoining Kelly felt the most like house if it wasn’t going to be in California.
“To be here with him and doing this again, it has been awesome,” Neuheisel mentioned. “It’s been a lot of old feelings but also new ones, and getting to experiment and create, it’s been really fun.”
Creative planning
Some of Kelly’s finest moments have come working offenses with main expertise.
The Ohio State group that received the 2024 nationwide championship with Kelly as its offensive coordinator had a number of present or future NFL gamers, together with quarterback Will Howard, huge receivers Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith and working backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
That roster, which additionally had the finest protection in the nation, was mentioned to price $20 million, and the prime rosters two seasons later are reported to be greater than double that.
So the query is whether or not Kelly can have success at Northwestern with lower-cost expertise, although the NU athletic division did announce in August that it acquired a $35 million donation from the Uihlein family to help the soccer program.
Kelly wasn’t occupied with evaluating.
“There’s no reason for me to compare them to any other teams I had because I can’t get any of those (former) guys to come here,” Kelly mentioned. “So I don’t even think of it that way.”
As they got down to create the offense, he and Neuheisel pressured that it was about accentuating the strengths the Wildcats do have.
“Anybody who sits there and says we don’t have enough talent — you don’t have enough creativity,” Neuheisel mentioned. “And so long as I’ve been round Coach Kelly, that has by no means been a difficulty and it’ll by no means be a difficulty. He is one in all the most unimaginable soccer minds I’ve ever been round, and I discovered a lot by being round him.
“And this entire offensive staff, we just kind of put our heads together and figure out, OK, how do we best support the talents that our guys have and put them in position to always have success? I think we’ve got a great plan.”
As anticipated, the NU workers landed on Chiles after a quarterback competitors in coaching camp. Kelly used one other meals and beverage reference when speaking about one in all Chiles’ strengths, alongside together with his athleticism and dual-threat means.
“A quarterback is like a teabag,” Kelly mentioned, borrowing a quote from former Cleveland Browns coach Sam Rutigliano. “You don’t know what you get till you set him in sizzling water.
“(Chiles) has been in hot water. He’s got (20) starts in his college career. That’s such a different thing for especially that position because practicing as a quarterback is so much different than any other position. You don’t get hit in practice, no one is ever going to touch you, and in a game it’s a totally different thing.”
Kelly and Neuheisel have recognized Chiles, who’s from Long Beach, Calif., since he was a four-star highschool recruit. He began his school profession at Oregon State earlier than throwing for 3,807 yards and 23 touchdowns with 14 interceptions and 9 speeding touchdowns over 20 begins at Michigan State.
After the Spartans began Alessio Milivojevic in the ultimate 4 video games of 2025, Chiles transferred amid the coaching change to Pat Fitzgerald.
Neuheisel mentioned Chiles could make any throw and has improved his accuracy and pocket presence throughout their quick time collectively — and “he can run with about anybody in the country.”
“A quarterback’s legs become the ultimate equalizer when you can get him out and running,” Neuheisel mentioned. “But when he can use them as a tool rather than an always thing, you become really dangerous.”
Neuheisel and Kelly mentioned it has been a course of to grasp the finest methods to make the most of Chiles, figuring out which performs he sees properly, which progressions or run performs he prefers.
Chiles referred to as it enjoyable and mentioned it was “pretty easy to transition to the offense, the quarterback that he wants me to be and the quarterback that I’m trying to grow into as well.”
His foremost targets are more likely to be Wilde, who had 71 catches for half a mile and eight touchdowns in 2025, and Hayden Eligon II, who had 37 catches for 531 yards and three touchdowns.
Kelly is thought for what he can do with the working sport, and he mentioned Northwestern has “a group of guys that can play” at working again. Returning are Caleb Komolafe, who rushed for 941 yards and 11 touchdowns, and Joseph Himon II, who rushed for 486 yards. And the Wildcats introduced in Gavin Sawchuk, who rushed for 1,463 yards and 19 touchdowns over 4 seasons at Oklahoma and Florida State.
So far the participant opinions of working beneath Kelly have been optimistic.
“He’s a smart dude,” Sawchuk mentioned. “Everything he does, everything we run, there’s a rhyme or reason behind it. This guy does this, so the defense reacts this way. It’s so detailed. That’s something that’s big for me, too, is being able to understand the full offensive scheme.”
For these coming back from final season, Kelly has raised the expectation about what this offense can do.
Last 12 months’s beginning quarterback, Preston Stone, threw for two,400 yards and 17 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Under Lujan, who was in his first FBS coordinator job, the offense averaged 17.8 and 23.4 factors the final two seasons.
“I think we’re going to be more explosive,” Wilde mentioned. “We’re going to be assignment sound. He’s going to put us in a position to win football games. So it definitely raises the standard and it brings Northwestern football to a place where the expectation is, well, we have no excuse now. We’ve got to go out and win games.”
In Neuheisel’s view, that’s the solely angle that needs to be taken. But he additionally introduced that mindset again to Kelly’s microfocus.
“If you go into a season preparing to be anything but the best, what’s the point?” Neuheisel mentioned. “There are lots of people right here who’ve achieved quite a bit of their life, and why ought to we cease now? For us, it’s taking it on a day-by-day foundation. It’s how do you win Monday? How do you win Tuesday? How do you win Wednesday?
“So when you get into the game, you can let it go and not worry about the results. You can let it rip and go play and just enjoy it. And when the game is on the line, you feel calm, that you have made that play in practice a million times, and you’ll be prepared for that situation.”