Chip Kelly in no hurry to fill job

FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Eagles coach Chip Kelly did not stop to talk to reporters after yesterday afternoon's South team practice at Fairhope High, but he did toss a few quips over his shoulder as he departed.

Asked about his plans for filling the personnel-chief job the team announced when Kelly took control of that operation on Jan 2, Kelly said his immediate plan was "to go back to my hotel and take a shower."

Asked about a timeframe, Kelly said his shower should take about 5 minutes. Then he said the timeframe for announcing a new personnel chief will be "when we find the right guy."

Senior Bowl scuttlebutt yesterday held that Kelly might have thought he'd found the right guy last week in Houston exec Brian Gaine, but the Texans promoted Gaine to keep him from leaving. If so, Kelly and old friend Bill O'Brien - the Houston coach who is said to be close with Gaine - didn't let this prevent them from spending much of the South team practice together on the sideline, in a confab that included Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese. (Imagined dialogue: "So if Mark Sanchez dyed his hair red, could any of us tell him from Andy Dalton?")

Howie Roseman, deposed as general manager in the Jan. 2 reshuffling, has been a Senior Bowl fixture for at least the last decade, but Roseman was not present yesterday. His assistant, director of football administration Jake Rosenberg, attended the South practice. Agents said they are still wondering how the Eagles' new structure will work, with Roseman in charge of contracts and the salary cap, but with no official say in personnel; one agent said he figures it might be like several years ago, with Roseman in a role similar to that of former team president Joe Banner, when Andy Reid had control over personnel.

Earlier yesterday, former Eagles defensive backs coach John Lovett and former tight ends coach Ted Williams sat alone together at the North practice in Mobile, on the first day of their new career as pro scouts. The team announced on Monday that Cory Undlin was coming over from Denver to coach Eagles d-backs and that Williams was being replaced by his assistant, Justin Peelle.

Lovett, asked if he thought he'd been blamed for the secondary's poor play last season, said: "I don't even know if it goes that way." Asked about his new scouting role, Lovett said: "Everything's a little undefined right now."

Former Eagles personnel vice president Tom Gamble said he had "a couple things" going on but declined to specify. Gamble chatted amicably with Kelly and Shurmur during the North team practice. CSNPhilly reported that Gamble enjoyed a lengthy chat yesterday morning with San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke. Gamble worked for the 49ers from 2005 until he came to the Eagles 2 years ago.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian