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It shouldn't be surprising that Chip Kelly wants to control his team

Forget Brandon Boykin's 'culture' soundbite, and focus on the larger picture of a coach who wants to build a winner.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly speak during practice at NFL football training camp, Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/AP)
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly speak during practice at NFL football training camp, Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/AP)Read more(Matt Rourke/AP)

CHIP KELLY does not appear to make DeMarco Murray uncomfortable.

"I just do as I'm told," the running back said yesterday when asked why his reps were limited on the first day of training camp.

Kelly does not appear to make DeMeco Ryans uncomfortable.

"However they use me, it'll work out," the linebacker said yesterday when asked about the potential of losing snaps to new acquisition Kiko Alonso.

Kelly does not appear to make Malcolm Jenkins uncomfortable.

"At the end of the day, if you don't like your working environment, then you can always quit," the safety said.

All of which suggests that if a player does not feel comfortable with Chip Kelly as his head coach, maybe it says more about the player than it does about Kelly.

A lot has been made of the racial implications from a statement released by Brandon Boykin to CSNPhilly.com in the wake of his trade to the Steelers on Sunday, but forget those fascinating few words - "men of our culture" - and focus on the rest of what the cornerback said.

"He likes total control of everything, and he don't like to be uncomfortable. Players excel when you let them naturally be who they are, and in my experience that hasn't been important to him."

Knowing what we know about Kelly . . .

Is it news that a coach who monitors his players' diets, sleeping patterns and post-practice recovery regimens likes total control of everything?

Is it news that not being in control falls outside of the comfort zone of a guy who strongly discourages his friends and family from sharing even the most mundane of personal tidbits about him?

Is it news that Kelly thinks the best way to win football games is with players who conform their natural talents to a system instead of players who have the freedom to "be who they are"?

If none of that is up for debate, then we are really only left with two questions.

1) Does any of the evidence Boykin cites suggest Kelly is uncomfortable around grown men of Boykin's culture?

2) Even if the evidence doesn't suggest it, does it represent the most effective way to run a football team?

The racial aspect is far more complicated than most people will choose to acknowledge, which Boykin himself exemplified when he told the Pittsburgh media that, "I'm not saying he's a racist in any way."

Maybe that sounds like a contradiction, but from the outside looking in, it certainly seems that life as a person of color in the United States should feel pretty contradictory at times. When you grow up in a country that has a long history of disregarding the perspectives of your culture, a country where people who look like you are often treated as ill-fitting parts in society's scheme, it makes sense that you would become conditioned to react with suspicion toward anything that smacks of that sort of thing. It doesn't mean you are right in every given instance. But your thoughts and feelings are certainly worthwhile in the sense that society would be a better place if it took the time to understand why you think and feel the way you do instead of dismissing your right to do so.

You'll note that every African-American Eagles player who has disagreed with the conclusions drawn by LeSean McCoy and Boykin has also expressed his respect for the right of his former teammates to have their opinion. If you are white and you can't understand that, read Du Bois, Baldwin and Ellison. If you want to understand it by the end of the day, pick up a copy of "The Fire Next Time." Long story short, Boykin's opinion requires a far more nuanced discussion than is possible in this space, and certainly cannot be adequately addressed by shoving a microphone in a player's face and asking him whether his head coach is racist.

As for Kelly's control-freakiness in general, there is plenty of merit to Boykin's argument that the best way to fit a square peg into a round hole isn't to trade it away for a conditional fifth-round draft pick.

At the same time, it is probably worth reminding ourselves that Boykin was the No. 3 cornerback in a secondary that was the most glaring weakness on the Eagles' roster for three straight years. Talk all you want about inside technique vs. outside technique, about the skills it takes to play in the slot. Fact is, Boykin was on the field for half as many snaps as Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams last season. His opportunity to impact the game was half as big as a couple of cornerbacks who turned every dropback into a carnival ride. Maybe Kelly and his coaches missed something, but they should not have surprised you when they revealed that they considered Boykin expendable.

Really, what it comes down to is a question that we can only answer with time: Does Kelly know how to identify the talent he needs to win at the NFL level?

The other stuff? The sports science and the quirky practices and the all-business attitude? Either you dig it or you don't. Yesterday, reporters peppered Murray with questions about the limited reps he was taking. He said he was completely healthy. He said he could handle any work they asked of him. He also said the coaches make the decisions about practice reps. In essence, I just work here.

That's what Kelly wants. He doesn't want you to make an outside move when the scheme calls for you to go inside. He doesn't want you in one space when the scheme calls for you to settle into another. He wants you to do your job and let him do his. In general, if you hope for more than that out of an employer, you have a good chance at being disappointed. Maybe that's why the guys who seem to get it are the ones who've worked for more than one organization, and the guys who don't are the ones who've been jettisoned from the only one they've ever known.

On Twitter: @ByDavidMurphy