Chip Kelly - Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles

[General_Failure]

A long, boring puff piece had some kind of dumb, hidden agenda? I'm going to write a strongly worded letter to the editor!

[PhillyPhreak54]

The dude has some New Hampshire pride!

Not too many people or things come from there so he's fired up for some relevancy!

[MDS]

new hampshire isnt even new anymore

get over it

[BigEd76]

An article from August about how Chip uses the OODA Loop

http://www.ericgardner.net/chip-kelly-revolutionized-nfl-ooda-loop/

John Boyd was born on January 23, 1927 in Erie, PA. Blessed with an athletic build, steel jaw and close-cropped hair, Boyd looked like a fighter pilot—which is exactly what he became. He never saw much combat and flew just 22 missions in the Korean War, but had more impact than perhaps any person on the art and science of aerial combat. At the age of 33, Boyd published "An Aerial Attack Study", a brief that upended the conventional wisdom of air combat. According to the commendation he received after winning the Legion of Merit for the work, it was the "first instance in the history of fighter aviation in which tactics have been reduced to an objective state."

"An Aerial Attack Study" became the fighter pilot manual for nearly every air force in NATO. Boyd's biggest breakthrough was that if you knew the enemy's position and velocity, you could calculate every possible move and every possible counter for an opposing fighter pilot. This meant a skilled fighter could "outmaneuver" a missile (something thought impossible) if they could orientate themselves to the situation.

For most people, this would be a defining achievement, For Boyd, it turned out to be a footnote in his career. He spent the next decade fixated on the possibility he was revolutionizing warfare. It became clear to him that throughout history, it wasn't the best equipment or the number of soldiers that defined a Great General, but rather their ability to quickly adapt and out-maneuver an enemy. The German blitzkrieg wasn't about speed; it was about cohesiveness. Nearly every spare moment was spent pondering and articulating his ideas. According to Air Force legend, he once devoured two eggs, two pieces of toast, ham, and a cup of coffee in twenty-two seconds—just so he could get back to work.
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Conflict, Boyd argues, is a matter of "observation-orientation-decision-action cycles," (commonly called OODA Loop) which each contending commander consistently repeats. First, the commander observes – not only with his eyes and ears but with his radar, reconnaissance, etc. He orients – that is, he forms a mental picture of his relationship to his opponent. On the basis of this picture, he determines a course of action – he decides. He acts. Then he begins observing again, to see the effect of his action.
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In Boyd's view, conflict was just a series of decision loops. In warfare, these decisions are made instantaneously, and multiple loops happen at a time (a commander must keep track of all levels of the conflict: infantry, air, artillery, etc.). Football provides the perfect antidote for the madness of warfare. The game is broken up into plays, and each play is an opportunity for coaches and players to apply the OODA Loop. When Peyton Manning comes under center and sends a man in motion, he is observing the defense's play call. If no one follows the WR, he knows the defense is playing zone. Given this observation, Manning orientates himself to the situation, and may choose to call one of 10,000 audibles to get his team in a better position. Every player on the field and coach on the sideline is going through the same thought process.

In his Grantland piece, Brown describes the impact of Chip Kelly's use of unbalanced offensive lines on NFL defenses. A typical offensive line is balanced with a center in the middle and a guard and tackle on each side; a common unbalanced line will move a tackle to one side. This makes one side of the offense perfect for running and one side perfect for passing. Teams typically do not make a habit of running unbalanced sets, because they can be exploited by flooding the weaker side with defenders. Brown explains the impact of combining an unbalanced line with a rapid pace. "The 11 defenders on the field need to be able to identify the unbalanced set and call the right adjustments, on the fly, at a super-fast tempo, while worrying about 50 other things."

In short, by rapidly unleashing an unbalanced line, Kelly's offense wreaks havoc on the defenders' ability to Observe, Orientate, Decide and take Action.
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For all of this tactical openness, one thing Kelly won't talk about is how he communicates to his players. It's his secret sauce, the key to his offense. To this day, the specifics are unknown, but when you put it in the context of the OODA Loop, the philosophy becomes obvious.

On a superficial level, the OODA Loop is about speed; those who process the loop the quickest win the battle. The dogfighting pilot with the quickest decisions will gain an advantage over time and outwit his opponent. Kelly's rapid pace will unglue defenses. But what if the decisions are based off of false perceptions? What if they fail to observe and orient themselves? If that's the case, they run the risk of rapidly executing the wrong direction.

Boyd found the answer, and it explains Kelly's approach. The more he researched the German blitzkrieg, the more Boyd realized it was the army's ability to orientate itself. He stumbled upon the German concepts of Schwerpunkt and Fingerspitzengefuhl.

Author Robert Coram explains:

Neither translates well. Schwerpunkt means the main focus of effort. On a deeper reading it is the underlying goal, the glue that holds together various units. Fingerspitzengefuhl means a fingertip feel. Again, the fuller meaning applies to a leader's instinctive and intuitive sense of what is going on or what is needed in a battle or, for that matter, in any conflict.

Boyd learned that when Nazi tanks entered France, they did not have specific hills or cities to control. Rather, they knew their leader's intent and were free to improvise a solution. If you aren't constantly rechecking and orientating with a central commander, you are free to operate at a rapid pace. Kelly's communication system is essentially the same idea. "Instead of trying to outscheme your opponent, put your players in an environment where they can be successful because they understand exactly what they have to do.
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The Art of War represents Chip Kelly and how football will be played in the future. Written around 400 B.C. by Chinese general Sun Tzu, the work stresses speed, deception and unpredictability as the deciding factors of war. Sun Tzu's goal was to win the battle before the war is even fought. Secret attacks and misdirection were just as important as winning the big battles. In fact, if you confused the opponent enough, big battles weren't even necessary. "Early in a game, we want to show things we saw on film and watch the defensive adjustments." Kelly's protégée Mark Helfrich told a coaching clinic in 2013.

That is Kelly's philosophy in a nutshell. He isn't interested in his teams fighting battles. He's interested in creating an organization that orientates itself to a situation so seamlessly that the war has been fought before it even started. Speed is just an afterthought.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Damn thats pretty hardcore for an NFL coach

Oh and he visited Cruz in the hospital Monday. The funholey NY DN should front page that shtein

[Sgt PSN]

The funholey NY DN should front page that shtein

They will, but it will lob accusations of tampering. 

[ice grillin you]

chip revolutionized the nfl into the eagles having the 9th best offense in the league....seems earth shattering to me

or has he done it but he refuses to get better talent so that he can have the best offense in the league every year?

[MDS]

frigy at it again

the eagles are 5-1 BUT ITS NOT GOOD ENUF1111111   !

[ice grillin you]

REVOLUTION!!

[MDS]

seattle just cut their best wr because hes a pain in the ass

culture > scheme

CHIP

[ice grillin you]

he also was the super bowl mvp

white people unite!

[SD]

Seattle would have won the SB without him

[PhillyPhreak54]

he also was the super bowl mvp

white people unite!

No.

He doesn't wear 53 or play LB

[ice grillin you]

doug baldwin and ricardo lockett aint gonna get it done

riley kkk > pimp

[PhillyPhreak54]

Paul Richardson could be the guy...he's fast as hell