Eagles new head coach, Chip Kelly, brought his fast-paced offense from Oregon to the NFL, but he may end up adjusting the tempo while he accommodates to the rules of the league. NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and said:
“We have to make sure teams understand that they don’t control the tempo, our officials do,” said NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino. “We’re going through our normal ball mechanics; we aren’t going to rush [unless] it’s in the two minute drill.”
In 2010, the NFL changed the ball spotting rule. It now requires the referee to line up behind the offense and giving the signal when it’s permitted to snap the ball except during the last 2 minutes of each half. Then Colts’ QB, Peyton Manning, took issue with the rule, as it slowed the no huddle offense that Manning commands. Jump to last season, with a couple years to adjust, offense seems to have a nice flow. Tom Brady led the Patriots’ offense to a league leading 74.4 plays per game, the most in 20 years. Blandino said that Kelly didn’t seemed too worried in the meeting, saying his only questions were about “what the parameters were going to be”.
It will be interesting to see how Chip Kelly pushes his offense, while he adjusts his play-calling to the NFL environment.