"They are interviewing Chip Kelly as we speak but it looks (hopefully) like he’s going to Cleveland. They can have him...he may be the next Jimmy Johnson but we need more of a sure thing. Also, there aren’t any Tennessee Tech’s on the schedule in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (Oregon actually played them this year--I looked it up)."
The first thing to remember when reading this blog is that I don't know anything (this also extends to the NBA draft--ask my cousin Mike about Acie Law IV. I also may or may not have wanted Ty Lawson over Jrue Holiday, who is now already my third favorite Sixer of all time and climbing quickly). Now--I am an intelligent, thoughtful Eagles fan and I watch all the games but just like the vast majority of the talking heads on TV I will likely be wrong more than I'm right. By a large margin.
That holds true now as much as it did before the Kelly hire. But--and this is important--before they hired him I had done zero research on him and held many of the same misconceptions that others did regarding his body of work. His offensive philosophy is actually based on creating mismatches and not just throwing the ball all over the field. His offenses at Oregon were consistently among the national leaders in rushing. He does have experience on the defensive side of the ball (as defensive coordinator at Johns Hopkins; I'm not totally sure this counts as I actually had no idea they had a football team).
Apparently they do.
But most of all, what I've read about Chip Kelly is that he adapts. This is something I have not seen an Eagles coach do since Bill Clinton was president. One writer mentioned how--if a team was playing their safeties deep--he would make them pay by running the ball. What a concept! Whereas the previous coach (I have decided his name will never again be mentioned in this blog) would continue to throw and throw and throw some more if that's what his pre-game scouting called for. The only thing he adjusted over 14 years here was his pant size.
Anyway, people have been asking me what I think of the Chip Kelly hire and this is how I sum it up for them: so far, I like what I've read and I like how he comes off. But we won't truly know until we see what this team looks like on the field.
In the interim I will watch and see what happens and withhold judgement until next September. I won't question the Pat Shurmur hire even though he was a disciple of the West Coast Offense for 8 years under the Coach That Shall Not Be Named. I won't assume Kelly's offense is a gimmick and I won't worry about whether he can successfully transition from a cushy Oregon situation where he was the undisputed king into the bubbling cauldron of psychosis, paranoia and Whiz (capital and lower case) in which Eagles nation eternally stews. Because the last few years have been so utterly miserable; because I won't have to hear anyone clearing their throat or taking full responsibility anymore; because I won't have to watch a rookie or backup QB throw 55 passes while the All-Pro running back practices blitz pickup because "we saw some things on tape that made us believe we could throw on these guys". For these reasons and many, MANY more, Chip Kelly has my unconditional support for now.
P.S. I am still reeling that the head coach of this reeking turd of a team as well as ALL THREE OF HIS COORDINATORS (including special teams coach Bobby April) got the same jobs with other NFL teams. Did these teams actually watch the Eagles play this year? They regularly and spectacularly failed in all three facets of the game. The team CLEARLY quit despite what the head coach and his apologists on TV and talk radio would have you believe. And still, all of them got hired mere weeks after this disgrace of a season mercifully ended. The only one I would even consider is Bowles because I think he got a raw deal with the Washburn fiasco. Hell I'd hire Juan Castillo to coach my offensive line before I'd hire any of these guys. The NFL is so dumb sometimes.
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