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Eagles Fans on Kelly hire: 'Love it!' 'Disaster!'

Eagles fans are polarized over the surprise hiring of Chip Kelly as the successor to fired head coach Andy Reid.

Chip Kelly. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
Chip Kelly. (Ted S. Warren/AP)Read more

Eagles fans are polarized over the surprise hiring of Chip Kelly as the successor to fired head coach Andy Reid.

"Love it! Love it! It's a great surprise," said "Phil from South Jersey" on 97.5 The Fanatic.

"This is disaster," said "Rich on a cell" on 94 WIP. " ... To get a college coach is pathetic."

Hosts on both stations were quickly wondering if the hire means quarterback Michael Vick would be back, given the University of Oregan coach's love of a fast-paced attack.

"It's a stunning turn of events," said Michael Barkann, cohosting with Rob Ellis on WIP-FM. "... I wanna find out, how the heck did this thing turn around?"

Reports have dismissed Kelly as a candidate for more than a week, saying he'd decided to return to school, and yesterday's prevailing thinking was that Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was likely to be the guy.

"It's clearly the stunner of the hiring season," said ESPN's Chris Mortensen, speaking on The Fanatic with Tony Bruno, Brian Baldinger and Jon Marks.

That crew claimed they broke the story before Mortensen, who told the world on ESPN then Twitter.

For hours this morning, rumors circulated that the Eagles were turning to a mystery college coach.

Then it dawned on "Mort" it had to be Kelly.

"I always thought it was strange that he never had his own press conference" announcing his return to Oregon, Mortensen said.

Fans expressed strong feelings, of course. Why would the "whatever" crowd call in?

"We're now officially the Washington Redskins in my mind," said "Sean" on WIP, arguing the Birds need to return to basic hard-nosed football. "... We needed to come back to Earth, and this team still goes after the wow factor, the next big thing. I think it's a disaster. ... It just scares me."

"Ralph on a cell" followed with "Wow!" in an approving way. "Chip Kelly's going to bring innovation and some kind of ingenuity. He's a motivator. I really think he's going to bring something needed and something different."

"It's going to blow up in our face," said "Rich on a cell." "... We need defense. We need smash-mouth. ... This is another Andy Reid. It's not going to work."

"I'm very excited," said "T.J. on a cell," who was also worried that Kelly's the kind of guy who "changes his mind a lot."

"As a non-Eagles fan, I'm thrilled," said Murray in Mayfair, noting that Kelly, who never coached in the NFL, failed to win a college championship. ". . . I'm comparing this to one of Jeffrey Lurie's splashes, V.I. Warshawski, which he produced." (The 1991 Kathleen Turner film tanked at the box office, grossing $11.1 million.)

"I like it," said "Justin in South Jersey" on 97.5. "I definitely think with everyone copycatting off his [Kelly's] style, God only knows what else he'll come up with. ... I'm really excited."

Bruno, in contrast to most fans, found some laughs, sharing a tweet that asked, "Are the Eagles now favored to win the Rose Bowl?"