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."
We want CHUCKIE!!!— Flyboy24- Why would anybody even talk to Matthews? Is he still on the team?— Ssteve115
- This line (other than the 45-7 record) caught my eye more than anything else: "Matthews said that Kelly was a PERFECTIONIST when it came to his practices." I'm not sure the same can be said of the Eagles. Not intending to be mean but, Reid's the classic Pillsbury Doughboy here. Warm, fuzzy, and easy-going. No sideline flare-ups, no passion. Just silent, stoic, deadpan. I watch the younger more active coaches like Jim and John Harbaugh. They're energetic. They interact and get involved with their players. I watched Jim Harbaugh in a film segment on NFL Network playing pitch and catch with Alex Smith. I even watched Belichick making corrections with his players and coaching them up on the sideline. Reid...nothing. Chip Kelly can't get here fast enough.— essell
- nice!!
ur coach is standing at the guillotine but hasnt had his head lopped off yet and ur talking up ur college coach as his ready2go replacement.
this team is packed with winners.
WINNERS I TELL YA!— bloodymess - does casey think he will be an eagle next year???? ahahahahaha— psualum
- I think we all know that Andy Reid is going to be gone at the end of the season, but a player on Andy's team right now should NEVER respond to hypothetical scenarios about another coach being here. I'm sure Casey would be thrilled to here Demeco Ryans say, "I think the fans would love Rolando McClain if he were here [instead of Casey]."— Roll Tide!
- Juan Castillo was a great O-line coach here, then did a nice job with the defense this year. IMO he is a better head coach candidate than every name being bandied about here.— joranan
- Casey Matthews is a NFL special teamer and not much more.— 1000hugs
- Casey Matthews is the other FATHEAD.— escapedcamden4monterey
- Is Casey Matthews trying to get himself fired? What an ill-advised comment to make to a reporter!— p-diddy
- Matthews is a HOF fraud.— oldBird
- No Gruden, no Billick, no Cowher. No coach has ever won a SB with one team and come back to win with another team. Lurie will most likely go the assistant route. I'd rather see him hire a college coach. Either Chip or Brian Kelly, David Shaw, or Bill O'Brien.— Will T.
- chip Kelly would be a great fit, we already have an undersized fast offense and defense.— franknbeans
- I'm with Cactusjim - I'll give Professor Kelly his due as innovator extraordinaire, but it's a fairly big leap to suggest he will be as successful in the NFL right off the bat. I'd like to see him take an OC job first (though I suspect he won't want to, nor will he have to). If he does become a HC next year (which seems likely), his best chance will be if he is paired with an excellent defensive mind with solid NFL experience.
Btw, Casey was foolish to go on record with his comments about how Kelly might fit with Philadelphia - it's unprofessional and unnecessary. I guess he figured he had nothing to lose - he's not playing anyway.— Mr. Magee
