Chip Kelly is known for sticking with young players through mistakes.
When Kelly coached at Oregon, true freshman running back De’Anthony Thomas fumbled on back-to-back plays for the Ducks in 2011. They were pivotal mistakes in a loss to Louisiana State, but Kelly did not bench his emerging star from Crenshaw High.
“As I learned from Paul Westhead a long time ago,” Kelly said at the time, referencing the former Lakers and Loyola Marymount basketball coach, “you may stop the bleeding, but you may kill the patient and that’s not going to happen here.”
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Then again, Kelly sounded every bit as exasperated as fans this week when he discussed UCLA true freshman quarterback Dante Moore’s third consecutive game with a pick-six.