How Ashton Jeanty was convinced to drop his famous stance (for now) after Raiders minicamp

First-year Las Vegas offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is making a major change to Jeanty's pre-snap routine.

Thanks to more than three decades of coaching experience, when Chip Kelly speaks, his players listen. "In Chip We Trust" should be the new phrase in Raiders' minicamp this month after the first-year offensive coordinator requested a major pre-snap change for first-round pick Ashton Jeanty.

The former Boise State star, who earned Heisman finalist honors last season after rushing for a nation-leading 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns, is semi-known for his infamous stance in the backfield -- a menacing, straight up look before running downhill with brute force and strength.

That's not going to fly in Las Vegas, though. At least not in 2025, anyway.

"You know, sometimes you've got to go with the flow," Jeanty told Kay Adams during a recent interview for Panini. "What's crazy is Chip Kelly comes up to me the first day of rookie mini-camp. He was like, 'Have you ever played basketball?' Yeah, I've played basketball. I can dunk, all that. He was like, 'Show me how you can guard me?' He's holding the ball and then he's like, 'That's exactly why you've got to be down in your running back stance.' 

"He won for now. I'm going to try and persuade him one day. I've got to earn my stripes, make some plays first. But I don't think it's going to be the end."

Jeanty is not going to have to guard defenders in the low post anytime soon, but being lower to the ground may assist in the leverage department. Jeanty is an integral part of wholesale changes this offseason for a franchise in transition under new coach Pete Carroll and free agent quarterback signing Geno Smith. 

The Raiders' rushing attack was the NFL's worst last season, ranking last in the league in yards per game.

Kelly's track record of success on the ground is widespread. During his only campaign at Ohio State in 2024, Kelly was on a rhythmic heater in the College Football Playoff as the Buckeyes averaged 36.3 points per game despite playing three teams who ranked inside the national top 10 in scoring defense.

Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (166.9) and promoted a pair of 1,000-yard rushers -- TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins -- to the NFL. His reputation at Oregon as a relentless, tempo-driven mastermind of sorts pushed the program to new heights with Marcus Mariota, LaMichael James and others leading those efforts.

Kelly's penchant for ground dominance continued into the NFL as a rookie head coach in 2013 when he helped LeSean McCoy gallop his way to a career-best 1,607 yards rushing with the Philadelphia Eagles after altering the former second-rounder's stance in training camp.