After practice on Saturday, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly was asked a fairly simple, benign question from a reporter looking to get anything new about which to write. His response probably resonates widely throughout college football.
Framed in USC coach Lane Kiffin's remarks about not voting his team number one out of integrity for the poll, Kelly was asked who he would vote number one. Then this happened:
I've been asked twice since I've been the head coach to be in the coaches poll and I refuse ... I've been baffled by polls, I don't know how coaches can vote, and I've refused to vote for that reason. I don't know if Virginia Tech is better than Florida State, nor do I care if Virginia Tech is better than Florida State ... If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right ... there are 120 teams out there.
Kelly's remarks, available more fully on a post-practice YouTube video, outline the underlying problem for the coaches poll, which helps the sport decide its champion.