Chip Kelly
There is no doubt that Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly dances to a different beat. Prior to becoming the head coach of the Eagles, Kelly was the head football coach of the Oregon Ducks. In four seasons at Oregon, Kelly’s record was 46-7 including three Pac-12 Conference Titles. Kelly built his Oregon program on speed and his uptempo spread offense. Kelly drew national recognition for his coaching style and after previously flirting with becoming the head of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he joined the Eagles in 2013.
Kelly had immediate success with the Eagles as he led them to the NFC East Title in just his first year on the job. In two seasons with the Eagles, Kelly has a record of 20-12, but heading into next season Philadelphia’s roster will look totally different.
LeSean McCoy
This off-season Kelly has been wheeling and dealing as established players at the skill positions have been leaving Philadelphia faster than the Amtrak from Penn Station there. In six seasons with the Eagles, running back LeSean McCoy became the team’s all-time leading rusher. McCoy is only 26-years of age, but Kelly was attempting to make salary cap space and he traded him to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso. Kelly instead opted to sign former Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray to a five-year, $42 million deal to replace McCoy in Philadelphia. Murray is coming off a season in which he led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,845, but this past season is the only one of his four-year career in which he made all 16 starts.
Like McCoy, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is only 26-years of age and he is coming off of his finest season in the NFL as he tallied 1,318 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. But Maclin was a free agent and he left Philadelphia to sign a five-year, $55 million deal to join former Eagles head coach Andy Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2013, quarterback Nick Foles burst onto the scene by throwing 27 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions for the Eagles. But Foles was traded to the St. Louis Rams this week in exchange for quarterback Sam Bradford. The past few weeks have also seen the Eagles release longtime veterans in guard Todd Herremans and defensive end/outside linebacker Trent Cole. And the only thing that these moves have done is to make the folks on Broad Street scratch their heads.
When Kelly came to the Eagles it appeared to be a match made in heaven. When Reid was fired by the Eagles, he left Kelly with a speedy team that he was capable of working with due to his coaching philosophies. But Kelly has parted with that speed and you cannot forget about him simply releasing wide receiver DeSean Jackson last year.
The main problem going on right now with Kelly is that he has simply allowed his ego to get the best of him. This off-season Howie Roseman was relieved of his duties as Eagles general manager and he is now the team’s executive vice president of football operations. Now along with being the Eagles head coach, Kelly is the team’s general manager and the only person that he has to answer to in the organization is team owner Jeffrey Lurie which gives him free reign to make whatever personnel decisions that his heart desires.
But the National Football League is not run like things are in college. At Oregon, Kelly’s word was law and he could recruit and control players to fit his system. However in the NFL, for the most part it is the players that make more money than the head coaches. And those same head coaches are charged with adjusting their system to their players.
Riley Cooper
Kelly’s spread offense has been a success in its first two years in the NFL as the Eagles have finished second and fifth respectively in total offense under him. But unless Kelly has an ace up his sleeve, the Eagles are going into next season with Riley Cooper slated to be their top wide receiver which doesn’t leave you with a ton of optimism as he has gained just 2,091 receiving yards in five seasons in the league. Kelly’s system also puts a ton of pressure on the quarterback to be a runner and thus no signal-caller in his two years with the Eagles has been able to make all 16 starts as they take their fair share of hits. Now Kelly is turning to a quarterback in Bradford that is 18-30-1 as a starter in the NFL and he hasn’t played a full season since 2012. You cannot coach speed in the NFL and you can also not afford to have consistent turnover at the quarterback position like the Eagles are currently having. Under Kelly, the Eagles have used four different starting quarterbacks. Kelly’s reasoning with deciding to part with so many talented players is beyond logic. The fans in Philly have been behind Kelly so far, but we all know that the folks in the City of Brotherly Love will turn on you in a heartbeat if they don’t agree with what you’re doing. At this point Kelly better hit a grand slam at the NFL Draft this spring to improve the talent on the Eagles roster or the folks in Philadelphia will turn on him while reminiscing of the days when Reid roamed the sidelines there.
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