Casey Matthews plugs Chip Kelly
Having played two seasons under Chip Kelly at Oregon and his next two seasons in Philadelphia, Casey Matthews has a unique perspective on whether his former coach would make a good fit with the Eagles.
Casey Matthews plugs Chip Kelly
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Having played two seasons under Chip Kelly at Oregon and his next two seasons in Philadelphia, Casey Matthews has a unique perspective on whether his former coach would make a good fit with the Eagles.
"I think the fans here would love him," Matthews said Thursday. "They would love his attitude, his go-get-it mentality."
Matthews was neither advocating for the Eagles to fire Andy Reid nor was he suggesting that Reid would be gone sometime soon. But when he was asked about Kelly – considered the most likely college coach to make the jump to the NFL -- and whether he would mesh with the Philly sports world, Matthews gave the affirmative.
"The way he carries himself, the way his mindset is, I think they'll really like him here," the Eagles linebacker said. "He would crack jokes. When he would talk to reporters at halftime he would give the most sarcastic answers."
Matthews then gave a few examples of how Kelly would respond to general questions:
Interviewer: "Why do you think it's not working?"
Kelly: "Because they stopped it."
Interviewer: "What do you think you did wrong?"
Kelly: "I don't know. I got to go in a check it out."
Kelly, 49, was offered the Buccaneers job in January, but he turned it down. Many believe he won't spurn offers this time around. He's expected to have quite a few. The Eagles are likely to be one of his pursuers.
There are doubts about his readiness, however. Kelly has never coached in the NFL. He first made his name on the national level as the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire from 1999-2006. Oregon stole him away in 2007 and had him run the Oregon offense for two seasons.
Matthews, who was a freshman when Kelly arrived, said he didn't know what to make of the new offensive coordinator initially.
"I try not to worry about the offense, but he set offensive records at New Hampshire," Matthews said. "You just didn't know how it was going to work out at the D-I level. But it was crazy how fast that offense took off. You see teams around the NCAA try to pick it up. Even [Jon] Gruden came and met with him to learn it back when I was there."
Kelly's spread offense set a number of PAC-10 records when he was coordinator. He was promoted to head coach in 2009. The Ducks have gone 45-7 in his four seasons in charge. Kelly's scheme requires lots of speed on the edges, and no college team runs the no-huddle as fast.
Bill Belichick had Kelly up to Foxboro during the summer and now the Patriots run a similar-type no-huddle.
"You got to have the right personnel," Matthews said. "I think it could work [in the NFL]. I don't see why it couldn't. It's pretty tough to stop. Even when you have it down teams will start getting tired quick. They're not used to that pace."
Matthews said that Kelly was a perfectionist when it came to his practices.
"They're so unbelievably fast," Matthews said. "Say, if it was a defensive period, he'd have two offenses lined up. When they'd do one play, they'd run off and the other team would come on. It was just rapid fire. His mindset was 100 plays in 100 minutes. You didn't ever have to condition."
Matthews' recommending Kelly is reason enough NOT to hire him. Only college coach I want is Shaw or O'Brien— DONDEN31- Shaw's Cardinal team beat Kelly's Ducks a couple weeks ago allowing only 14 pts, and he lost 20-13 at Notre Dame last month in a controversial OT game. — escapedcamden4monterey
- Both those games were away for Shaw now as I remember. — escapedcamden4monterey
- Casey fell for this reporter's question trap. Whadda maroon.— albrock
- I watch Kelly & Shaw up close as i live out here and get all the game. Kelly is amazing but I dn't think this team wouldbe able to withstand a change where he runs the toughest practices in College ball. He is funny and a great personality and - most important - quick to adapt the game plan to the opponent. Shaw from Stanord is also amazing. He took no time at all to put a freshman - dispelling the "Luck-was-the-cause-of-his-success BS & who he trained - in at QB and his 'D' scheming is amazing. He beat Kelly at his own game and has pro experience as a coordinator. If Andy goes and Laurie wants to get a coach from the College ranks both would be excellent.— jjthree
- Dead Man Talking.— red rock
- red rock, that is a good one.
Hey, I want Reid out of here as much as anyone, but for Matthews to be popping off like that is uncalled for, and just plain stupid. Eagles should cut him tomorrow. I'm waiting for Evan Mathis to mouth off next, he was been sucpiciously quiet. C'mon Evan!!! I know you are dying to say something...— chocolatethunder - Wrong Kelly. Brian Kelly, maybe. Chip Kelly runs a gimmick offense in a gimmick conference.— DoctorLoads
- And for all you goons who want Gruden, do yourselves a favor and go back and look at his horrific draft record. Worse than Andy's.— DoctorLoads
- Jeff and Zach, you guys must be pretty bored at the Stinkquirer. Whose stupid idea was it to ask a bench warmer like Casey Matthews about his opinion on the next Eagles head coach? Did either one of you knuckle heads even consider the fact that Matthews has zero chance of even making this team next year? Who cares what he thinks.— teksys
- If I owned a multimillion dollar perhaps billion dollar NFL franchise the last thing I'd want is a college coach with no NFL experience coming in to be my head coach. There are only a few guys like Harbaugh who can go from Stanford to the SF Giants and succeed and the reason is because Harbaugh played in the NFL for years and he ran a pro style offense at Stanford. Kelly runs a gimmick offense at Oregon that will not fly in the NFL. I don't want him taking over the Eagles. Either hire a former pro head coach or bring in a guy who is currently a successful offensive or defensive co-ord. in the NFL. And godforbid anyone would be crazy enough to bring in Josh McDaniels -- all you need to know about him is that he drafted Tim Tebow to play QB and John Elway couldn't wait to dump Tebow when he took over as GM in Denver.— sherry37
- I think this roster is as bereft of talent as anyone but I wonder that if this team had modern-day o-line and d-line coaches if any of these lineman would at least be serviceable.— coloradoeagle
- Hard to believe, what is he thinking? I don't care what puny disclaimer you put in there, making those comments is out of line with the guy who gave you a shot enduring the bittr end. My vote goes to Greg Roman of the Niners, NFL guy, and very impressive last couple of years with SF.— EagleEye61
- Stop with the COLLEGE COACH jokes....THE BEAGLES need a PROVEN NFL SUPER BOWL WINNING COACH ! Period ! Nothing else is acceptable! The players of today are prima "primetime" donna's !They are selfish, tempermental, play when they want to play, make stupid mistakes on & of the field, DO NOT study their playbooks...thatis why the Beagles need an Ex-super bowl winning mentality. If not, the ladies on the field will not pay attention!— frank castle
- My choice would beanyone not named Andy Reid.
Uh, or Marty Mornhinweg.
Um, Jim Washburn.
Okay, Howard Mudd.— Atomic Fury
