Ranking Chip Kelly in the Coach of the Year conversation
Despite the Eagles recent struggles, few coaches have done more with less than Kelly this season.
I get it. You're frustrated. If 10 wins was good enough, then why get rid of the last guy. But before you start to question Chip Kelly's staying power, consider the following:
-Joe Philbin
-Jay Gruden
-Lovie Smith
Coaches are like quarterbacks in the sense that committing to the right one is often less important than not committing to the wrong one. Take it from somebody who has watched plenty of Falcons, Lions and Bengals games this season (along with the aforementioned coaching performances in Miami, Washington and Chicago). Things could be much, much worse.
The only active coach to win multiple AP NFL Coach of the Year awards is Bill Belichick. In fact, the last coach besides Belichick to win multiple honors was Dan Reeves way back in 1998. We mention this because Bruce Arians seems like a near lock to bring home his second such honor after leading a team quarterbacked by Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton and Ryan Lidley to the playoffs (while also dealing with the absences of their two best defensive players, Darnell Dockett and Daryl Washington, along with running back Andre Ellington).
But maybe the most underrated coaching performance this year has been the job done by Mike Tomlin to turn around a Steelers team that looked dead in the water after a 3-3 start that included losses to the Bucs and the Browns. Pittsburgh has won seven of nine games, all but one of them against teams who were jockeying for playoff position (Houston, Indy, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Kansas City).
So where does Chip Kelly rank?
It might not be a popular time to bring this up given the Eagles' current circumstances, but you can certainly make an argument that he has done more with less than any of the remaining candidates. I'm not sure that case would hold up when compared to Bill O'Brien keeping the Texans marginally alive into Week 17, but, again, there's a case to be made. Jason Garrett deserves to be mentioned, but, on the flip side, he is Jason Garrett.
My ballot, should anybody ask:
1) Bruce Arians
2) Mike Tomlin
3) Bill Belichick
4) Bill O'Brien
5) Chip Kelly
Ineligible: Jason Garrett