This Is How Close Chip Kelly Was To Leaving Oregon To Coach The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What you see above are two versions of this morning's front page of the Register-Guard of Eugene, Ore. No, that's not an error, nor is it a do-over on a report that wound up reaching the masses. A source told the newspaper last night that Kelly, 34-6 in three seasons as the University of Oregon's football coach, had accepted an offer to jump to the NFL to coach the Bucs. Then, just before midnight (PST), that same source informed the paper that Kelly had had a change of heart.

The timing of it all forced the newspaper to literally stop the presses just before they started running. "Given the importance of the story, we were able to hold the press until we plated the final story," Register-Guard sports editor Mark Johnson just told me in an email. "So, no outdated material was ever printed or distributed."

How about that? By having to wait to publish because of the logistics of a printing press, the Register-Guard was able to stall long enough to get the story right, just as it unfolded. Which all sounds so cutting-edge. With technology like that, newspapers might be on to something.

Sources: Chip Kelly changes mind and will stay at Oregon [Register-Guard]