RYAN DAY AND CHIP KELLY HAVE BEEN A HUGE PART OF EACH OTHER’S COACHING LIVES FOR A LONG TIME.
Quantum entanglement refers to what occurs when two particles are inextricably entangled.
“Inexorably” means that even if the two particles are on opposite ends of the galaxy, they will be two pieces of the same whole; anything that affects one of the particles may be found in the other, even if they are separated by a tremendous amount of space.
Einstein’s concept of “spooky action at a distance” is a strange and paradoxical concept that I don’t fully understand due to my lack of physics knowledge. I had to start with a simple Wikipedia article to grasp the concept. Also, I probably messed up some of the stuff.
But in general it’s an idea that fascinates me because it’s both incredibly odd and also weirdly applicable to the kinds of relationships that we find in sports, particularly among coaches in college and the NFL.
Ohio State’s founding mythology revolves around successful coaches connecting with other talented coaches to help their teams succeed. This began with Wayne Woodrow Hayes, who emerged from Miami University to establish a coaching tree that eventually led to Urban Meyer bringing a national title to Columbus 60 years later.
It’s hard to believe how that happened, both historically and logistically. It’s quite remarkable that so many people’s lives came together at the perfect time and place to create something exceptional in X location during Y time period.
Ryan Day and Chip Kelly have a long coaching history, dating back to Day’s time as a tight ends coach at the University of New Hampshire and Kelly’s stint as quarterback and offensive coordinator. Matt Galatzan provides an overview of how their paths crossed, culminating to Kelly’s hire as offensive coordinator at Ohio State under Day:
Day was Kelly’s quarterback at New Hampshire from 1998 to 2001, so the two have a long history together. Both were on the New Hampshire staff in 2002, with Day as tight ends coach and Kelly serving as offensive coordinator.
In 2015, the two were again coaching together, this time with Day serving as the Eagles’ quarterback coach under Kelly. One year later, Kelly took over as head coach of the 49ers, with Day returning as quarterback coach.
Ryan Day started working for Urban Meyer in 2017, and the rest is history. Chip Kelly began his studies at UCLA in 2018 and has already arrived in Columbus, where the two men’s paths have crossed once more.
That’s all well and good, but to emphasize how absurd all of this is in practice, I believe it’s necessary to imagine the spatial journey that both Day and Kelly took to arrive to where we are now. Chip Kelly’s coaching career history since meeting Ryan Day in the 90s is shown below, with black circles indicating where the two coached together.
If you’re not familiar with Kelly’s career, this includes stops in Eugene, Oregon as head coach of the Oregon Ducks, a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles as their head coach, a disastrous year as the head coach of the 49ers, and several years at UCLA as the head coach of the Bruins.
That was the easy one. Now let’s see what Ryan Day has been up to in that time:
Okay. Uh… okay. New Hampshire as the tight ends coach, Boston College as a grad assistant, Florida as a grad assistant, Temple as a wide receivers coach, back to Boston College, back to Temple, back to Boston College again, followed Kelly to Philly with the Eagles and then on to San Fran, and finally to Ohio State.
Now let’s combine the maps:
That’s why I titled this post “quantum entanglement.” There’s nothing particularly eerie about two men in the same profession maintaining a friendship over decades and thousands of miles, but it’s something quite wonderful nonetheless. Ryan Day and Chip Kelly, or any set of coaches, are deeply connected both philosophically and professionally, highlighting the highly personal aspect of athletics.
That has meaning, especially in an increasingly mercenary world of college football, and while this coaching relationship may be brief once again (especially if it is successful), I believe the offseason is as good a time as any to reflect on how two guys from New Hampshire ended up trying to win a national championship in Ohio.
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