Maragos, Barkley see similarities in Carroll, Kelly

CHRIS MARAGOS won a Super Bowl with Pete Carroll last February. Now he plays for Chip Kelly. Carroll has a defensive background, Kelly's is offensive, but Maragos, a safety who plays almost exclusively on special teams, finds common threads.

"Very similar. They both think outside the box," Maragos said yesterday, as the Eagles prepared for Sunday's visit from Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks. "Chip's got the more [intense], East Coast-type feel, the 'Rah,' vs. Pete Carroll's got the whole laid-back, just kinda like 'beachy' feel a little bit more. But both very good coaches . . . really, really good leaders."

Quarterback Matt Barkley was part of Kelly's first draft class, in 2013, but before that, he was recruited to USC by Carroll, who made him the Trojans' first-ever true freshman starting quarterback, before leaving for Seattle following Barkley's freshman season.

"Very similar," Barkley said yesterday. "I see a lot of similarities in how they run practice, where it's fast, it's upbeat. I don't know if they do music [during practice], but, from what I remember at SC, you're in, you're out, there's not a whole lot of coaching onfield during team periods."

Carroll is 63 and Kelly just turned 51, but Barkley said they are similar in that "they have that young personality."

"You wouldn't think of coach Carroll being an older coach, but he's the second-oldest coach in the league [to 68-year-old Tom Coughlin]," Barkley said. "He has that young, vibrant feel to him, is always engaging, like Chip. They're always trying to gain an edge, in whatever way possible."

Barkley said both coaches look for "quality guys . . . that coaches don't need to be looking over [the player's] shoulder all the time."

Kelly visited Carroll in Seattle in 2010, when Oregon had a bye week. Asked about that this week, Kelly said he "was just going to watch somebody else practice."

On a conference call yesterday evening, Carroll gave no X-and-O details, but was a little more forthcoming.

"I had a lot of questions for him, and he did for us . . . Just ball coaches, talking football at the time . . . He was very open. We had a real nice exchange," Carroll said.

"I think the world of what Chip has done. I think he's done an extraordinary job. Really, he's affected the whole landscape of college football, and now he's affecting the NFL ranks, in great fashion. He's done it with style and class, and he's a tremendous ball coach. But I don't know him as well as you might think."

Chip Kelly said yesterday he adheres to the maxim "be where your feet are," as in, "be in the moment," and Kelly said, "My feet are right here."

When the first question of Kelly's news conference had to do with a report about the University of Florida supposedly planning to contact him - though the Gators are reported to be deep in negotiations with Colorado State coach Jim McElwain - Kelly turned to team spokesman Derek Boyko and said, "You won, Derek." Boyko had predicted that would be the first thing Kelly would be asked.

Kelly said neither he nor agent David Dunn was contacted by officials from Florida, and he would not have discussed their coaching job with them had they called. Does he find the attention flattering?

"No. I think it's silly. I think things that are false are silly," Kelly said.

"I can't control what other people think or other people write, so I've never been concerned with it, never will be concerned with it," the Eagles' coach said. "I've been very, very fortunate in my career. Everywhere I've been has been a great situation."

Kelly is in the second year of a 5-year deal to coach the Eagles, at about $6.5 million per year.

Special-teams player/tight end Trey Burton and running back Chris Polk returned to practice . . . Emmanuel Acho (groin) was a full practice participant, and Acho said he expects to be able to play at least a limited role against Seattle. Acho was active but did not play at Dallas, and Chip Kelly said afterward he would have been available only in an emergency . . . Kelly said that he thought kicker Cody Parkey's kickoffs at Dallas might have been affected by his groin injury, but that Parkey should be fine this week. The Eagles listed Parkey as a partial practice participant . . . After being asked more than once about Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman yesterday, Jeremy Maclin said, "I like my chances against anybody" . . . Eagles players had boxed Bose Bluetooth headphones in their locker stalls yesterday, each with a note from Nick Foles.

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