Tale of 2 coaches: Doug says he's comfy in structure Chip didn't trust

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson talk frequently about personnel, the Eagles coach said Wednesday, which right away would seem to be a move in the right direction, given what former coach Chip Kelly was implying at another table across the room at the NFC coaches breakfast, on the final day of the NFL meetings.

Kelly indicated he was never comfortable working with Roseman and took control of personnel only after Roseman fired personnel exec Tom Gamble, who now works with Kelly in San Francisco. At one point Wednesday, Kelly said he didn't speak to Roseman after banishing him to the other side of the building, though Kelly later amended that to indicate they had some interaction. Mostly, Ed Marynowitz, the personnel exec Kelly promoted, served as an intermediary, Kelly said. Marynowitz was dismissed along with Kelly.

There is no such intrigue in the current setup, it would seem.

"Open dialogue, open communication so far," Pederson reported, seated at a table much less crowded than the one that bore Kelly's nameplate. Asked if Roseman has been open to his suggestions, Pederson said: "Yes, yes, he has. The moves we've made this spring, whether it's signing our players or the free agents we've brought in … In all those situations, he's come to me and we've had dialogue, we've had conversation, he's asked my opinion."

Kelly referred to "a weird situation" with Roseman.

"I didn't like the way it was. And I didn't ask for anything," Kelly said when asked about Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie's contention that Kelly asked for personnel control and Lurie gave it to him to make him accountable for how things went in 2015. "It's his organization, his team, he can run it however he wants to run it. It wasn't like I'm walking out the door (if not given control). … I would have been content to just go hire a general manager or something."

Asked about his issues with Roseman, Kelly said: "I just didn't think we were on the same page."

Kelly said "it would be very presumptuous" for him to try to interpret whether Lurie's remarks about needing a coach with "emotional intelligence" was directed at Kelly. "That's a question for him."

Kelly was faulted by former players for being distant, not communicating well. Director of player engagement Marcus Sedberry, who also was fired, often served as an intermediary. Kelly said Wednesday he doesn't think he needs to alter the way he relates to players. He cited several Eagles who reached out to him after he was fired.

"You've got to take the whole scope of it, not just the vocal minority," he said. "You listen to everything. I also don't go on sound bites and what's written. Sometimes you guys don't always write the whole story."

Pederson said he feels his top priority when he addresses the team for the first time next month is "just to capture the guys. Show them a little bit of who I am."

"I feel like I can connect with players, and they can connect with me," Pederson said. He said he wants them to view him as "someone they can come to at any time … a 'father figure,' but also somebody who has played the game, who has been there."

Another difference between Kelly and Pederson is that Pederson said, when it comes to evaluating prospects, he'll focus on individual workouts,  rather than on pro days, which he mostly won't attend. Kelly seemed to hit every pro day he could manage.

Wednesday was the first chance Philadelphia-area reporters have had to speak with Kelly since he was dismissed, the evening of Dec. 29. It was the Tuesday before the season finale.

"Yeah, I was surprised. We'd spent the whole day planning and having practice. It was not something I saw coming," Kelly said.  "It is what it is."

Why does he think he was fired, at 6-9, after going 20-12 his first two seasons?

"We didn't win enough games."