A Marriage Made In Hell

Chip Kelly

It is safe to call Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly the made scientist of the National Football League. In three years as the Eagles head coach, Kelly has reshaped the Eagles roster in his own image and he has ruffled some feathers along the way. This past March, Kelly made a very bold and surprising move when he traded running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills. McCoy is in the prime of his career while also being the Eagles all-time leader in rushing yards. And McCoy’s departure in Philadelphia paved the way for the Eagles to sign running back DeMarco Murray.

Murray spent the first four years of his National Football League career with the Dallas Cowboys and last year saw him lead the league in rushing with 1,845 rushing yards. But after the Cowboys failed to offer Murray the lucrative contract that he was seeking, the Eagles and Kelly swooped in. Murray joined the Eagles after agreeing to a five-year contract that is worth $42 million, but neither side has benefited from it.

DeMarco Murray

Through 12 games with the Eagles, Murray only has 603 rushing yards while he is merely averaging 3.5 yards per carry as it appears to be a classic case of keep away. When Murray was a member of the Cowboys, all he did was torch the Eagles as their defense was unable to stop him. And instead of Kelly devising a plan for his defense to put the clamps on Murray, he simply signed him in order to keep him away from the Cowboys. Murray and the Cowboys were tailor made for one another due to the fact that he is a downhill runner while the Cowboys possess one of the biggest and most physical offensive lines in the National Football League as they would creates canyons for Murray to run through. But in Philadelphia, Kelly has his spread offense which relies on a running back’s patience to pick the hole to run through along with possessing lateral movement which does not play to the strengths of Murray. This season Murray has only had one game where he was able to gain more than 100 yards rushing with the low light of his 2015 season coming in Week 2 when he was held to just 2 yards in facing his former team in the Cowboys.

Murray has been frustrated all season long, but it is a situation that you cannot feel sorry for him or Kelly as each party knew what they were getting into when they joined up. Kelly believes in his system that doesn’t fit Murray’s running style and the running back simply wanted to get paid which is why he is in Philadelphia. Murray’s ineffectiveness has seen him move down the running back depth chart in Philadelphia and there have been rumors that he could simply be released in the off-season.

The grass definitely hasn’t been greener as Murray wanted the money, but his production has dipped. And for Kelly, he acts as if he can run the Eagles in the same fashion that he operated when he was in college as the head football coach of the Oregon Ducks. But unlike college, the head coach isn’t the most important figure on the team as it is the players, and in the National Football League, you need stars to win and you must also adjust your system in order to fit the talent of those stars.

Kelly claims that trading McCoy to the Bills was a financial move, but you can see the writing on the wall that he was threatened by the running back and any other players on the Eagles roster that had more star appeal and sizzle than him.

In 2014, the Eagles simply cut wide receiver DeSean Jackson who was a three-time Pro Bowl selection in Philadelphia. And to make matters worse, reports began to surface last year that someone within the Eagles front office began to start a rumor about Jackson having alleged gang ties. This past off-season, Kelly allowed wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to leave in free agency as he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs after leading the team in receiving yards last year.

In three years with the Eagles, Kelly has indeed done things his way as team owner Jeffrey Lurie has also made him the de facto general manager which means that he has the final say in all personnel moves. The Eagles are currently 6-7 which surprisingly finds them in a first-place tie in the NFC East, but there is absolutely nothing about this team that displays them being a legit Super Bowl threat as Kelly’s coaching style isn’t cutting it in the National Football League with Murray standing out as the prime example.