Shawnee coach has longtime ties to Kelly
Tim Gushue has known Chip Kelly since the latter coached at New Hampshire, and has picked his brain for almost as long.
AS CHIP KELLY and the new-look Eagles prepare to take the field for the first time Monday night against Washington, questions surround the first-year head coach. How his offensive schemes will translate from the college game to the NFL seems to be the biggest question among fans and media alike.
The answers could be closer than anyone would think.
Tim Gushue has been at Shawnee High's football program for 36 years now. He has dealt with many college coaches in his day, but the one now coaching the Eagles stood out to him. He has known Kelly since his early days in coaching.
"When he was at the University of New Hampshire, he had this area of the country to recruit," Gushue said. "We had a running back/defensive back/receiver-type athlete that was on our '98 team."
Ever since, Gushue has been friendly with Kelly. They kept their relationship going through Kelly's days at New Hampshire, and he was a big help to Shawnee, a traditional South Jersey powerhouse in Medford.
"We were starting to get into the spread offense," Gushue said. "We had always been wing-T team. I wanted to start getting into the spread, and he shared all kinds of stuff. He sent me . . . things from New Hampshire that they have done. Like a lot of college coaches, he was very helpful. Any questions that we might have had as a staff, he was helpful."
Gushue and Kelly lost contact for a few years when Kelly took off to join the Oregon coaching staff, but they eventually reconnected, and the knowledge sharing continued, but in a groundbreaking way.
With the success Oregon had when Kelly was there, many other high schools, and even lower-level college programs wanted insight into what the Ducks were doing so well. Kelly devised a way that he could help out as many people as possible, and still keep his focus on his team.
"When he became head coach at Oregon, I sent him an email and said I wanted to come out and visit," Gushue said. "He said, yeah, come on out. What he started at the University of Oregon, they set up a week in February after signing day and before the organization of spring practice. What he set up was a week where we could come and learn."
"Their staff is a tremendous group of men," Gushue added. "They opened their doors. You are there from 7 in the morning to 5 at night, and they give you whatever you want to know. They don't let their closest guarded secrets out, but they are very helpful to all the coaches there."
Gushue has been out to Eugene each of the last 3 years to soak in the knowledge of a college football powerhouse.
Though Kelly is now in town, and more accessible, Gushue is giving him some breathing room. He has seen him at an Eagles open practice, but is letting him work in what could be the most stressful season of his career.
"I haven't bugged him," Gushue said. "Professionally, we have had a very solid relationship. I'm sure if I needed anything, I could reach out to him."
Like the rest of us, Gushue is waiting to see how successful the Kelly era will be.