Surprise: Eagles hire Chip Kelly

Chip Kelly named new Philadelphia Eagles head coach - NFL.com

Quote:

---

Chip Kelly named new Philadelphia Eagles head coach

The Philadelphia Eagles' long, winding coaching search ended where it all began. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported that Oregon coach Chip Kelly will take the Eagles job after all.
It's a stunning turn of events 10 days after Philadelphia's pursuit of Kelly fizzled in the wake of Oregon's Fiesta Bowl victory. Countless reports said that Kelly chose to stay at Oregon. He re-committed to the school and began to operate as the team's coach again. But the Eagles didn't give up pursuing their man. ESPN's Chris Mortenson broke the story.

The media spotlight moved on to the other coaches Philadelphia met with, including former Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, NFL Network analyst Brian Billick, and Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
Time will tell why things changed. Perhaps Kelly simply had a change of heart. Perhaps the Eagles sweetened the deal enough to make Kelly reconsider. Maybe Kelly's deal to stay at Oregon wasn't quite what he hoped.
No matter the reason, this has to be a gratifying moment for the Eagles organization. Despite a previous public statement from the Eagles that said they had no regrets after pursuing three college head coaches, Kelly was their top choice all along. Now they have him.
Kelly will bring an innovative, up-tempo offense to the NFL. (First question for Kelly: Will he keep Michael Vick?) It's an offense that includes a lot of change of direction and unpredictability. Kelly has shown that skill set and them some during the last two weeks as he spoke to NFL teams and re-committed to Oregon.
I'm not sure what the Kelly era is going to be like in Philadelphia, but Eagles fans can get ready for a wild ride.

---

Actually I'm surprised. Wonder what they had to give him. Looks like Lovie won't get a new HC job in 2013 after all.

Interesting timing. I wonder if he had interviewed with the Bears and waited unil a few days ago to see if he was a finalist before deciding to go with Philly. Just strange how that whole thing went down with him saying he was going to stay in Oregon and then we announce our HC and then all of a sudden he becomes a HC in the NFL.

Could be co-incidence, then again...

Not Bears related, belongs in the "Rival Team Forum". ;-)

=> http://www.dabears.com/rival_team_fo...hip_kelly.html

Probably so. I wanted him to have a shot at Bears HC, so that's my relation... What can I say ... LOL :lol-027:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by little bear

Not Bears related, belongs in the "Rival Team Forum". ;-)

=> http://www.dabears.com/rival_team_fo...hip_kelly.html

---

Cleveland seemed like it would have been a better fit for him.

Philadelphia Eagles' hire of Chip Kelly could be NFL's worst ever - NFL.com

Quote:

---

Philadelphia Eagles' hire of Chip Kelly could be NFL's worst ever

Now that the Philadelphia Eagles have reeled in perhaps the biggest fish on the coaching market, I am going on the record calling Chip Kelly one of the worst hires in pro football history.
Yes, worse than Steve Spurrier, the old ball coach who is one of college football's top offensive minds ever but who failed miserably in the NFL, going 12-20 in two seasons with the Washington Redskins (2002-'03). Kelly, too, is a dynamic college head coach, but what he's about to bring to the NFL simply won't work, and here's three reasons why:

1. Swoosh, there it isn't
For the past four years, Kelly has had the biggest recruiting advantage ever known to a college coach. His name is Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike and a major University of Oregon donor and school alumnus who pumps millions of dollars into the football program each year. Despite the enormous benefits of this relationship, Kelly has yet to bring a BCS title to Eugene.
In four years with the Ducks, he has a 46-7 record, but has never finished higher than third in the polls, including 2010 when he lost to Auburn in the BCS National Championship game. In the NFL, you don't get 10 first-round picks, and in Philly, the league's best free agents aren't lining up to join the Eagles.

2. Out-coached by Stanford
A month and a half ago, Stanford beat Oregon 17-14 to ruin the Ducks' hopes for a perfect season. Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason had 20 working hours that week (mandated by the NCAA, which includes practice, weightlifting, and meetings) to prepare for this so-called NFL-ready offense, and he held them to two touchdowns, 4-of-17 on third down, 0-for-2 on fourth down, and forced a turnover.
I love the discipline and structure that Jim Harbaugh installed at Stanford and that current head coach David Shaw and Mason have continued. And they've done it with much less athletic players than what Kelly has enjoyed at Oregon. If Kelly's high-powered offense could only manage 14 points against Stanford, how will this offense work in the NFL, where all teams -- more or less - are on equal footing?

3. QBs exposed to injuries
If we've learned one thing this season in the NFL, it's that you can't expose your franchise quarterback to vicious and violent hits. I'm sure the RG3 phenomenon is adding to the Chip Kelly hype but Robert Griffin III has been knocked out of a game once by concussion and once from a brutal hit from Baltimore Ravens NT Haloti Ngata that could've been worse than an LCL sprain. One more concussion for RG3 and he would have been watching from the bench the rest of the season.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota carried the ball 106 times in 13 games for Kelly this season at Oregon. Overall, Oregon quarterbacks have rushed the ball 464 times in Kelly's four seasons with the Ducks. I'm not sure he can maintain that in the NFL against much bigger, quicker and faster defensive players without losing a quarterback -- be it Michael Vick, Geno Smith or anyone else -- to injury for a significant amount of time.
The game is constantly changing in small ways, but the basis of championship football will always be physical and mental toughness in the NFL, not gadget offensive schemes. When Kelly and his Oregon squads have faced physically tough and defensively sound teams that the NCAA has to offer, they have not fared well.
Sure, Oregon kept it close against Auburn in the 2010 title game and the Ducks didn't do so badly against LSU last year either. But "keeping it close" and "not so bad" will only get you one thing in the NFL: fired.

---

darren rovell @darrenrovell Is Chip Kelly a mustache away from Andy Reid?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAv0HtmCQAEIRRE.jpg

toss some glasses on him and people will wonder when did Reid coach the Ducks?