Chip KellyJust a few days ago, Chip Kelly announced that he would be staying with the University of Oregon after interviewing with the Browns, the Bills & the Eagles.  All of these teams were looking to Kelly as some sort of offensive innovator to get their clubs back on track and back to the playoffs.

Kelly said no thanks to all of them and returned to Oregon to be a Duck once more.

Apparently Eagles owner Jeff Lurie pursued him anyway and eventually made Coach Kelly an offer that he just couldn’t refuse.  It must have been a good one!

Kelly will be leaving a coaching situation there in Oregon where his personal power must have been something like being king and going into a situation where he will be under constant and very close scrutiny from day one.

One of the main reasons that Kelly had initially turned down the Eagles gig was the now infamous “rule by committee” practiced in Philly.  There have been times when the direction of the Eagles seemed to be in the hands of the bean counters instead of down on the field.  It now appears that the front office has backed off somewhat and given their new head coach the powers that he feels he needs to get the Eagles back to a first class NFL power once again.

Kelly’s first task will be to figure out what to do about the quarterback situation.  Michael Vick is shot.  He is injury prone and does provide consistent play when he is well. Former Arizona Quarterback Nick Foles has already shown Kelly what he can do during their Pac 10/12 days.  After the 2011 season Kelly said, “Nick is a hell of a football player.  That kids a warrior. He’s as good as anyone in the country.”

Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said “Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles. He has a brilliant football mind.  He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words.  He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh energetic approach to our team.”

What remains to be seen is how Kelly’s innovative offense will translate to the pro football field.  He had a great run at Oregon winning 46 or 53 games in four seasons with the Ducks.  Now, if he can just win 10 next year for the Eagles…

 

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