Eagles place a bet on the future, hire Chip Kelly
Eagles hire Chip Kelly
Eagles place a bet on the future, hire Chip Kelly
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Up off of the floor, then. A splash of cold water on the face and away we go. Chip Kelly is the new coach of the Eagles. The Gus Bus has left town, replaced by what Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie believes will be the laser-quick offense of the future.
You know it took a big bag of money to pry Kelly away from the clutches of the University of Phil Knight. So this is where the Eagles-are-cheap narrative goes to die an overdue, deserved death.
You know, too, that the Eagles are not settling here, and that they did not bungle their search, and that pretty much everything said and written in the last week about this process has been conversation in search of reality. Well, this is the reality: the guy they wanted all along -- or at least one of the guys, along with Penn State coach Bill O’Brien -- is now theirs.
People who loved the idea of Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley -- mostly because they heard him say “bleep” and yell at his player on a YouTube video -- could very well hate this. People who carry a fondness for old-style NFL football -- who wanted to rekindle something they last felt when Buddy Ryan coached this team -- and who disliked the way Andy Reid spent 14 years trying to outsmart people on offense, could also be in for a disappointment. Because the only certainty here is that Kelly plans to innovate on offense, and then innovate some more.
But in a league where you need to score 30 points even to think about winning most playoff games, and where the Patriots’ fastbreak offensive attack has helped to make them the even-money favorite to win the Super Bowl, the Eagles have grabbed as their coach the most prominent practitioner of hurry-up football in the nation (and the guy who schooled both O’Brien and Pats coach Bill Belichick on the concept).
We do not yet know the details about what happened. We do not know why Kelly walked away from the Eagles after a long interview right after Oregon played in the Fiesta Bowl, or why he has had this change of heart, or how much the Eagles intend to pay him for the privilege.
What does this mean for Nick Foles, the immobile kid quarterback who seems miscast if Kelly wants to play read-option football to go along with the hurry-up? Don’t know. What does it mean for Michael Vick, the expensive, aging quarterback on the roster who moves better than Foles but not as well as he used to move? Don’t know.
There are a million unanswered questions here. The answers will come when they come. Critics will see risk -- in the offense, and how it might translate to the NFL, and in the fact that Kelly has never worked in the league. It is fair to wonder. But to deny the potential upside is to ignore the trends that have been so evident in this NFL playoff season.
There are no certainties here, except one: that a franchise that had grown stale has just placed an enormous bet on the future.
- Yes, offense is important but it depends what KIND of offense. RG3 just got murdered running a similiar system to CHip Kellys, didnt even last ONE SEASON and he was supposed to be the greates scrambling QB in a generation. What do you think a lesser Geno Smith or a 32 y/o Mike Vick is going to do in it lol..this is going to be a long, long sad JOKE. On EAgles fans, and some of them are even football savvy enough to understand it. The Seahawks also ran a varation of this offense and are OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS. and the Niners just inserted Kapernick a few weeks ago, so he hasnt lasted a full season in it either, being that they spent half the seaon with pocket passer Alex Smith. (and the Niner have the #2 defese in the NFL) (SEA #1) To think that Chip KElly is going to succesfuly run this sytem, not get the QB injured, AND build a #1 or #2 defense, and WIN A SUPERBOWL is LAUGHABLY STUPID. Becuse any team that has attempte to run anything even LIKE that system for a full year is OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS ALREADY. I dont want gimmicks I want a freaking superbowl, and Chip Kelly will NOT win a superbowl with the Eagles with this dumb system.
Someone reminded Phil Knight that the Eagles wear Nike too....— shamdog- I liked Lurie's press conference after he fired Reid. He looked like a guy who really cares about winning. What I did not see is the part of him that ( like Andy Reid ) wants to prove that he is the smartest guy in the room and with this pick of CHip Kelly that is what he is doing. Many a sport writers have said how brillent Gus Bradley is, how his players love him and what a great football mind he is, while saying that Chip Kelly is a possible disaster and at the very least a huge risk. Well Eagles fans we have to strap on our helmets and see what happens but after all the rock turning it looks like Lurie went with the gimmicky shinny Yamaha instead of the tried and true Harley. I hope he is right. I am getting old and need a Super Bowl before I die. Looks like poor Nick Foles will be gone or at the very least a back up while Chip tries to find a running QB that won't get hurt. Man this stinks.— Santino
- Whoever it was going to be we would've had reservations about.... Be it Kelly,Gruden or whoever......Not sure what I'm thinking about Kelly..... But I think regardless who ever the Coach was going to be, the bigger unfixable problem with this team is Lurie and Roseman....Two Micro managers who are smarter than everyone else— klew
- Of course, we all have to give him a chance, but I can't help but have nightmares of Steve Spurrier dancing in my head. This organization is really going to hear it if Bradely goes someplace else and wins a superbowl.— Hemingway
- Kelly is obviously a bright offensive mind but the key to his success will be whom he chooses to run the defense.— phillyguy61
- Good move. Regardless of his lack of NFL experience, Kelly is a winner. He'll learn to adapt to the NFL.— nmlawyer
- ahhh poor MRDerp lil self loathing nerd.— bhamss1
- Well, well. Where are the little boys in the basement, and that includes some of the "writers" who were whining about the Eagles being "rebuffed" by Kelly??? It must be shocking to discover that you don't actually know everything. Second, how is it that some allegedly grown man in his 40's is named Chip?? Is that a real name?? Third, I think he will find it's not quite as easy to motivate players who are already in the NFL to run frantically around the field trying for pro jobs. How many PLAYOFF games did the Ducks win?? Finally, do the Eagles have another HC who doesn't care about defense??— MagMGirl
- the Ducks annihilated Kansas State two weeks ago, darlin'
— hannibal barca - oh man...what a job!!! no wife ..no kids... football all day all the time, he'll give it all he has....enjoy those cheesesteaks ...no one on your back!!!!— PhillyPhilly
- Steve Spurrier, Part II.
Saw this movie before, except this guy never won the big one.— EmanuelP - Not sure why Foles wouldn't work in terms of speed or mobility. Doesn’t New England run the most up tempo offense in the league? Brady's 40 times are slower than Foles and he has never been accused of being mobile. Foles also received Division one offers in basketball so he has to have some mobility— MichaelMore
- Some people just like to complain. I'd really like to know who this mythical genius is that the Eagles passed over.— p-diddy
- The Philly fan Boos will soon begin! Mark my word!— MRD
