04/24/24
January 16, 2013
Eagles Hire Chip Kelly as Head Coach: The Philadelphia Eagles have hired Chip Kelly away from Phil Knight and the Oregon Ducks. Kelly, whose up-tempo offense helped Oregon reach a BCS championship game, was 46-7 in four seasons. He was still recruiting for the Ducks as recently as Tuesday but had a "change of heart" about taking the Philly job, an unidentified source told USA Today.
I wonder if the NCAA or some other body is going to bother to come up with rules to protect the recruits in these circumstances. If a coach is going to go out on the road to influence a student athlete's (I know) decision about their education shouldn't that come with some responsibility to the job?
posted by feloniousmonk at 01:35 PM on January 16, 2013
Coach Kelly must have visited the grave of W.C. Fields over the weekend.
The tombstone famously reads: "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia".
Actually, I think the thing that may have changed Kelly's mind was watching the 49ers- Packers game. I can picture him watching the SF offense running wild and thinking: "this really can happen at the pro level".
Wonder who he envisions at QB. Geno Smith or EJ Manuel via the draft? Based on this year, he sees that rookie QB's can make a winning impact right away.
Geno would have a nosebleed if he went to a team that could actually play defense. Manuel might be a better pick.
If Kelly gets his system going, the Giants and Cowboys are going to have to defend against two division rivals with opened up offenses, between Philly and DC. If RG3's rehab goes well.
Ahh, Philly. Such a designer gloves, lime green cleats and featherwinged shoulder pads kind of place.
posted by beaverboard at 02:14 PM on January 16, 2013
Such a designer gloves, lime green cleats and featherwinged shoulder pads kind of place.
Don't forget the warm-hearted, tolerant and patient fan base.
posted by etagloh at 03:03 PM on January 16, 2013
Nice hire, but is Kelly going to be able to succeed with a smaller budget?
posted by rcade at 04:36 PM on January 16, 2013
C'mon, rcade, the Pac-12 isn't the SEC.
I hadn't known about this until I saw the news this evening ... and the TV break-in when he landed in Philly ... and what will be ad nauseum coverage for the next 24 hours.
posted by jjzucal at 08:37 PM on January 16, 2013
Phil Knight has probably donated between a quarter and a third of a billion dollars to Oregon over the years. Kelly is definitely going to have to learn how to live within a budget.
posted by Etrigan at 08:54 PM on January 16, 2013
I don't get well paid college coaches moving to the pros. Especially college coaches who haven't been around the pro game.
A college coach at a good program can recruit the players he wants ... a pro coach needs to work with what the organization has been able to draft or buy on the free agent market. Nick Saban is an excellent example - able to recruit the best players for his program in college; considered a failure as a coach in in the NFL.
Kelly is heading into a situation in Philly where he's saddled with overpaid and under-performing aging talent, also where expectations remain artificially high. Add that his task is to be an improvement on a 3 time NFL coach of the year who lead his team to 9 playoff berths in 14 years.
Hope he negotiated a decent termination package.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:21 PM on January 16, 2013
I don't get well paid college coaches moving to the pros. Especially college coaches who haven't been around the pro game
Just ask Nick Saban...then again perhaps CK did speak to NS who then told him a year or 2 in the NFL can do wonders preping you for your NEXT college HC job.
posted by Folkways at 05:01 PM on January 17, 2013
I think Chip Kelly will live to regret this move. Hope I'm wrong.
posted by EEEEE at 05:19 PM on January 17, 2013
3 years and Kelly will be running from Philadelphia and their lunatic press and fans like he was being tared and feathered. Oh wait, in the city of brotherly love they are most likely trying to tar and feather him.
posted by ic23b at 08:37 PM on January 17, 2013
I think Chip Kelly will live to regret this move. Hope I'm wrong.
You mean you hope he dies?
posted by yerfatma at 08:49 AM on January 18, 2013
a year or 2 in the NFL can do wonders prepping you for your NEXT college HC job
After reading the piece that Etrigan linked to, this is what I was thinking. Get out from under Phil Knight and if the pros don't work out, eventually return to college ball at a program that has a less suffocating environment, where you can run the show your own way.
I'd like to see Kelly end up at a school that doesn't have a huge tradition of excellence and isn't in an armageddon conference like the SEC, so he can broaden the map and the conversation like he did at Oregon.
Haven't heard who Knight is looking at as Kelly's replacement.
posted by beaverboard at 09:04 AM on January 18, 2013
return to college ball at a program that has a less suffocating environment
Was Oregon a big program before Kelly got there? Pardon my East Coast-bias.
posted by yerfatma at 09:56 AM on January 18, 2013
Under Mike Bellotti (Kelly's predecessor) Oregon was a top-10 program for most of the decade and got up to No. 2 a couple times. The Ducks should've been given a slot in the 2001 championship game.
posted by rcade at 11:39 AM on January 18, 2013
Thanks. I had the program's rise tied to Kelly in my head.
posted by yerfatma at 02:16 PM on January 18, 2013
Get out from under Phil Knight and if the pros don't work out, eventually return to college ball at a program that has a less suffocating environment, where you can run the show your own way.
But does that exist at the high echelons? I mean, sure, it'd be awesome for him to show up at a Wake Forest or a South Florida, where he could be their Tom Osborne, but at the same time, he doesn't get the sheer reach of an Oregon or the bankbook of a Phil Knight.
posted by Etrigan at 04:52 PM on January 18, 2013
From Ducks to Eagles. That's promotion, right?