College football insider Bruce Feldman shared what Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said about the expanded College Football Playoff format. While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Feldman discussed Ohio State’s loss to rival Michigan and how, in previous years, that could have been the end of their season. However, with the expanded playoff, a loss like that has the potential to serve as motivation for the team.
The Buckeyes lost to the Michigan Wolverines in November 2024 but went on to win this year’s national championship. The expanded playoff allowed Ohio State to qualify as the No. 8 seed—an opportunity that likely wouldn’t have been available under the previous format.
Chip Kelly’s Take on the Expanded College Football Playoff
Feldman revealed that he spoke with Kelly after the national championship game, where Kelly emphasized that in past years, a loss to Michigan in that fashion would have been nearly season-ending.
“Talking to Chip Kelly after the national title game, his point about the Michigan loss was, you can sit there and look at it and go, ‘Okay, back in the day, if you lost your last regular-season game, you might be going to the Bluebonnet Bowl,’” Feldman explained.
Feldman added that, in Kelly’s view, teams now have two ways to respond to a loss like that.
“You can look at it one of two ways: It’s either a tombstone or a stepping stone. And clearly, that program believed it was going to be a stepping stone,” Kelly said.
Ohio State Buckeyes Road to the National Championship Title
Despite the loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes still qualified for the College Football Playoff. Once in, they defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish to secure the national championship—their first since 2014.
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As evident from Feldman’s interview and the season’s outcome, Ohio State used the crushing loss against Michigan as fuel for the remainder of the campaign. While in previous years they may not have had an opportunity for redemption, the expanded College Football Playoff format gave them a second chance—one they unquestionably capitalized on.
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