Eagles place a bet on the future, hire Chip Kelly
Eagles hire Chip Kelly
Eagles place a bet on the future, hire Chip Kelly
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Up off of the floor, then. A splash of cold water on the face and away we go. Chip Kelly is the new coach of the Eagles. The Gus Bus has left town, replaced by what Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie believes will be the laser-quick offense of the future.
You know it took a big bag of money to pry Kelly away from the clutches of the University of Phil Knight. So this is where the Eagles-are-cheap narrative goes to die an overdue, deserved death.
You know, too, that the Eagles are not settling here, and that they did not bungle their search, and that pretty much everything said and written in the last week about this process has been conversation in search of reality. Well, this is the reality: the guy they wanted all along -- or at least one of the guys, along with Penn State coach Bill O’Brien -- is now theirs.
People who loved the idea of Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley -- mostly because they heard him say “bleep” and yell at his player on a YouTube video -- could very well hate this. People who carry a fondness for old-style NFL football -- who wanted to rekindle something they last felt when Buddy Ryan coached this team -- and who disliked the way Andy Reid spent 14 years trying to outsmart people on offense, could also be in for a disappointment. Because the only certainty here is that Kelly plans to innovate on offense, and then innovate some more.
But in a league where you need to score 30 points even to think about winning most playoff games, and where the Patriots’ fastbreak offensive attack has helped to make them the even-money favorite to win the Super Bowl, the Eagles have grabbed as their coach the most prominent practitioner of hurry-up football in the nation (and the guy who schooled both O’Brien and Pats coach Bill Belichick on the concept).
We do not yet know the details about what happened. We do not know why Kelly walked away from the Eagles after a long interview right after Oregon played in the Fiesta Bowl, or why he has had this change of heart, or how much the Eagles intend to pay him for the privilege.
What does this mean for Nick Foles, the immobile kid quarterback who seems miscast if Kelly wants to play read-option football to go along with the hurry-up? Don’t know. What does it mean for Michael Vick, the expensive, aging quarterback on the roster who moves better than Foles but not as well as he used to move? Don’t know.
There are a million unanswered questions here. The answers will come when they come. Critics will see risk -- in the offense, and how it might translate to the NFL, and in the fact that Kelly has never worked in the league. It is fair to wonder. But to deny the potential upside is to ignore the trends that have been so evident in this NFL playoff season.
There are no certainties here, except one: that a franchise that had grown stale has just placed an enormous bet on the future.
Maybe Lurie gave in to Chips demand that he not howie have final say on football decisions.— swinger18- Ugh-This guy's offensive philosophy is like AR and the west coast offense on steroids! I would have preferred ground and pound and an emphasis on Defense.— Mike Boryla
- Do you understand, BTW, that Vince Lombardi was an OFFENSIVE coordinator before he became a head coach? — BEMiller
- I'm sorry BEMiller, but are you comparing a gimmicky college coach with one of the greatest NFL coaches ever? — Phils_World_Champs
- I'm not thrilled with the hire, but let's get the facts straight. Oregon has been one of the top RUSHING offenses in the college game since Kelly took over. He helped usher in schemes that are working in the NFL right now based on old school power approaches on the O-line. RUN the ball first was his offensive philosophy, and it WAS NOT a West Coast offense or anywhere near Andy's Lavell Edwards/Norm Chow BYU-type offense. — KNuff
- Wow...I mean Wow. Never saw this coming. I was in the first row seat of the Gus Bus. I would love to hear how the Eagles pulled this off. Kelly was not someone I wanted but I will hold my fire and give the guy a chance. The Eagles are going to take a couple of seasons fix. Now the next big question is who the DC will be.— Still An Eagles Fan
- The recent experiment with a gimmicky defense failed miserably. I fear the same will be true of the gimmicky offense that Kelly brings with him to Philly. The Eagles do not have the personnel that fits his scheme. Why not find a coach who can get the best out of the players we have? It takes a long time to turn over a 50 man roster.
Even if Kelly can find Jimmie Johnson reincarnated for his defensive coordinator, it looks like it'll be a while before the Eagles are back on top of the NFC East.— DPinDC - "this is where the Eagles-are-cheap narrative goes to die an overdue, deserved death."
*Cough* $20M under the cap last year *Cough*
— Only in Philly... - I was thinking the exact same thing. The Eagles paid Reid well but they consistently have the most cap room in the NFL. I think that $20M could have been put to good use filling all the holes that developed last season. — coloradoeagle
- While I won't argue that money could have gone toward some improvement in 2012, you do realize WHY they carried that much extra money? That money can carry over into another season, in this case, 2013, where the Eagles were OVER the cap without the 2012 $20M credit. This is the franchise where cap manipulating become an art and science. — LeeJPC
- And this is breaking news!!!! Who Cares!! Give him two years and your be searching for a new coach!— MRD
- It's not a gimmicky offense that has failed in the NFL. The Seahawks and the Deadskins both employed it in parts this year. The Patriots and the 49ers are still in the playoffs with it.
But yeah, who is the DC going to be?!— stuttgart - and RGIII's career may be over running this gimmick offense. tom brady is a hall of famer...is nick foles the next brady? SF is as much about defense as kaepernick's running ability. and where are the seahwaks playing sunday?
wasn't spurrier a genius at UF before different dumb NFL owner "thought outside the box" and hired him in washington? how did danny wuerffel look running a gimmick offense in the NFL? and at least spurrier's teams played defense— hannibal barca - The N.F.L. is speed and score more then 30 points to win anything, I vote yeas to this move as long as he brings in a Defensive Co-ordinator that can hold up. he only drawback is it will take time with the rebuilding and the mess that Read has left. The q.b. situation just got worse. Let's give him a chance— Dick Faunce
- This is no longer your father's NFL!
The emphasis has turned to scoring, and that means to OFFENSE!
Obviously defense is needed, and a good DC to run it, but the whole league as tipped to offense.
Just have to hope Chip Kelly is ready to let the epithets from the boo boo birdies roll, well, like water off a duck's back!
GOOD GRIEF!— BEMiller
