In 2011, when Kelly had two great running backs in LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, quarterback Darron Thomas ran only 56 times all season.
"Chip is very, very smart, very intelligent," Bellotti said. "He'll take what he believes will work. He'll try it and then decide what things will work and what things can't."
Bellotti said it's a mistake to think Kelly's offense is based on finesse. It is, in fact, a power offense based on the run.
"The run-and-shoot didn't work because it didn't have a running component," Bellotti said.
Bellotti is more concerned that Kelly's up-tempo style won't translate as well to the NFL.
"The read option is already there," he said. "They've already taken it from college. The tempo thing is different. It's a full-time commitment. Full time, I'm not sure you can get those guys to do that. It requires a lot of depth on both sides of the ball."
Wednesday was a better day for the pros than it was for the college game.
Bellotti hired Kelly at Oregon in 2007 because he saw the spread offense as college's future. It just might now be the NFL's future.
Kelly took over as head coach for Bellotti in 2009 and led Oregon to unprecedented heights that included a BCS title game and the school's first Rose Bowl win since 1917.
And just as Oregon carried on successfully without Bellotti, it will carry on without Kelly.
All indications point to Ducks offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich being promoted to replace Kelly. Helfrich lacks Kelly's edge and doesn't talk out of the side of his mouth, but he is a respected offensive mind who won't have to tinker much to keep the program on a winning course.
There is no denying some buzz was knocked out of the Pac-12 Conference. The odds of Oregon winning next season's national title, according to RJ Bell of Pregame.com, dropped from 4-1 to 7-1.
Everybody knew Kelly was going to leave Oregon someday, even if no one would have predicted Wednesday.
He faked us last year, with the Tampa Bay flirtation, and then last week, when he announced he was staying at Oregon.
Getting a read on Kelly has never been easy — as NFL defensive coordinators will soon discover.