Ravens linebackers coach Ted Monachino is aware of the reports that he could be the Eagles’ next defensive coordinator, but he says media reports are all he knows about it.
“I haven’t been contacted and neither has the club. I’m doing everything I can to get us ready for this game,” Monachino told me today at the Ravens’ team hotel.
Monachino said he respects the work Kelly did at Oregon but doesn’t know Kelly personally and doesn’t have any idea if Kelly would be interested in bringing him on board in Philadelphia.
“I don’t know Chip,” Monachino said. “It’s a great opportunity for him in Philly and it’ll be interesting to see how that type of system works with a 53-man roster and see if they can get it done. If they can, it’s going to be interesting for sure.”
Although 49ers running back LaMichael James, who played for Kelly at Oregon, said this week that the 49ers’ offense is similar to Kelly’s offense, Monachino said that as a defensive coordinator preparing to face the 49ers, he doesn’t see much similar to what he has seen the Ducks do.
“Not very similar,” Monachino said. “The biggest thing that I’ve seen when I’m watching college games on television on Saturday nights, the tempo that they do at Oregon is problematic, and completely different from the tempo that San Francisco has used. Some of the read option things are similar, but I think the tempo more than anything they do at Oregon is what causes people problems and we’ll see if coach Kelly can do that in Philadelphia.”
Monachino said the 49ers, who can run their running back behind a fullback and also get yardage on the ground with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, use a different offense than he has previously seen in the NFL.
“Nobody is similar to what the 49ers have done. They’re still a physical, downhill running team, and the quarterback just adds something,” Monachino said.
According to Monachino, the NFL team that runs the most similar offense to Kelly is New England: No one will mistake Tom Brady for a read-option running threat that Kelly’s Oregon quarterbacks have been, but Monachino said the way Brady calls plays quickly at the line of scrimmage is similar to what Kelly has his quarterbacks do.
“New England has some of those things in their system where they have some single-word calls that get them in a certain formation and play. Those things are similar to two-minute tempo throughout the course of the game,” Monachino said.
Monachino respects that about New England, and Chip Kelly. But he isn’t talking to Kelly about joining his staff. At least not yet.