Is Chip Kelly a good recruiter? What to know about Ohio State's new offensive coordinator
Chip Kelly has developed a reputation as one of college football's premier offensive minds.
The award-winning offensive coordinator and head coach led Oregon to the highest-scoring offense in the country in 2010, which allowed the Ducks to finish their season in the BCS National Championship against Auburn. After a four-year stint in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, Kelly then brought his no-huddle "blur" offense to UCLA, where the Bruins finished top 20 in scoring three times.
Kelly may be a two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year and a recipient of the Walter Camp Coach of the Year. But Kelly has not found the same success as a recruiter.
Kelly, Ohio State's new offensive coordinator, joins a staff that has secured five straight top-five recruiting classes, including a 2024 class that includes two five-star wide receivers and a five-star quarterback.
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Here's a look at Kelly's history on the recruiting trail in his time with Oregon and UCLA,
Chip Kelly has never had a top-10 recruiting class
Kelly has never secured a top-10 recruiting class in his coaching career.
At Oregon, Kelly had four top-15 finishes nationally: 2007 (No. 14), as an offensive coordinator, 2010 (No. 12), 2011 (No. 12) and 2012 (No. 14).
Kelly's best class in his seven-class tenure as the head coach at UCLA was in 2018 when the Bruins had the 19th-best class in the country. No other UCLA class under Kelly was better than 30th.
Chip Kelly led UCLA to the bottom-ranked 2024 recruiting class in the Big Ten
In UCLA's first Big Ten recruiting class, the Bruins were at the bottom of the conference in recruiting.
With a 10-player recruiting class in 2024, the Bruins finished with the No. 18 class in the Big Ten and the No. 88 class overall per 247Sports' composite rankings.
UCLA's class was headlined by four-star wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer and four-star offensive tackle Mark Schroller along with eight three-star signees.
How many 5-stars has Chip Kelly recruited?
As a head coach at Oregon and UCLA, Kelly landed five five-star players.
Defensive end Arik Armstead in the 2012 class was the only five-star commitment on defense.
Dante Moore, the No. 5 player in the 2023 class, was Kelly's only five-star commitment at UCLA. Moore transferred to Oregon after one season with the Bruins.
Lache Seastrunk (Temple, Texas): No. 32 player in 2010 class, No. 2 running back
De'Anthony Thomas (Los Angeles, California): No. 13 player in the 2011 class, No. 1 all-purpose back
Arik Armstead (Elk Grove, California): No. 14 player in the 2012 class, No. 1 athlete
Thomas Tyner (Beaverton, Oregon): No. 20 player in the 2013 class, No. 1 running back
Dante Moore (Detroit, Michigan): No. 5 player in the 2023 class, No. 3 quarterback
Which states does Chip Kelly have the most success recruiting?
Most of Kelly's commits have come from California.
In 11 recruiting classes at Oregon and UCLA — including the 2013 class, which was nearly finalized when Kelly left for the Philadelphia Eagles — over 49% of his signees were from California per 247Sports.
Kelly's 256 recruits came from 30 different states. He had double-digit signees from California, Oregon, Texas, Arizona and Hawaii.
Here's a look at the number of recruits Kelly secured from each state.
California 126
Oregon 22
Texas 16
Arizona 15
Hawaii 11
Nevada 9
Florida 5
Georgia 5
Washington 5
Michigan 4
Ohio 4
Utah 4
New Jersey 3
North Carolina 3
Tennessee 3
Alabama 2
Colorado 2
Kansas 2
Illinois 2
Iowa 2
Wisconsin 2
Alabama 1
Alaska 1
Connecticut 1
Idaho 1
Massachusetts 1
Montana 1
Nebraska 1
New Hampshire 1
New Mexico 1
Which quarterbacks has Chip Kelly landed at Oregon and UCLA?
In his time at Oregon and UCLA, Moore was Kelly's only five-star quarterback.
Of Kelly's 15 quarterback signees, six were four-star players and seven were three-star players, including both Karson Gordon and Henry Hasselbeck, who each signed with the Bruins in 2024.
One of Kelly's quarterback signees in 2008, Jeremiah Masoli, joined Oregon as a junior college transfer.
Here's a look at Kelly's quarterback recruiting history.
Oregon
Darron Thomas (Houston, Texas): No. 289 player in 2008 class, No. 3 dual-threat quarterback
Bryan Bennett (Encino, California): No. 297 player in 2010 class, No. 12 pro-style quarterback
Marcus Mariota (Honolulu, Hawaii): No. 512 player in 2011 class, No. 18 dual-threat quarterback
Jake Rodrigues (Rocklin, California): No. 227 player in 2012 class, No. 7 pro-style quarterback
Jeff Lockie (Cupertino, California): No. 755 player in 2012 class, No. 19 dual-threat quarterback
UCLA
Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Las Vegas, Nevada): No. 36 player in 2018 class, No. 2 dual-threat quarterback
Chase Griffin (Hutto, Texas): No. 1,250 player in the 2019 class, No. 41 pro-style quarterback
Parker McQuarrie (Weare, New Hampshire): No. 258 player in the 2020 class, No. 11 pro-style quarterback
Kajiya Hollawayne (San Jacinto, California): No. 649 player in the 2021 class, No. 44 quarterback
Justyn Martin (Inglewood, California): No. 295 player in the 2022 class, No. 20 quarterback
Dante Moore (Detroit, Michigan): No. 5 player in the 2023 class, No. 3 quarterback
Luke Duncan (Orinda, California): No. 510 player in the 2023 class, No. 32 quarterback
Karson Gordon (Bellaire, Texas): No. 1,068 player in the 2024 class
Henry Hasselbeck (Westwood, Massachusetts): No. 1,265 player in the 2024 class, No. 71 quarterback
Which Ohio recruits has Chip Kelly landed?
In his college head coaching career, Kelly has landed four Ohio recruits.
Here's a look at who the former Oregon and UCLA coach landed from the state.
Oregon
Pharaoh Brown (Cleveland): No. 189 player in the 2012 class, No. 11 weak-side defensive end
Dwayne Stanford (Cincinnati): No. 330 player in the 2012 class, No. 43 wide receiver
UCLA
Datona Jackson (Union City): No. 61 player in 2019 junior college class, No. 7 strong-side defensive end
A.J. Campbell (Akron): No. 922 player in the 2021 class, No. 50 defensive end
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What to know about Ohio State OC Chip Kelly in recruiting