The news that Chip Kelly has hired former Browns head coach Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator will undoubtedly draw a few questions from those who follow the team.

In a week that saw the franchise move far, far away from its past by hiring former University of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, the team drifted back to some form of familiarity by bringing back Andy Reid disciple Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator.

But Shurmur wasn’t around for the team’s toxic decline over the past few seasons. He hasn’t coached in Philadelphia since 2008 when the team made its last NFC Championship Game appearance.

Still, Shurmur’s recent work has been so unimpressive that he found himself passed over for the vacant Jets offensive coordinator job in favor of former Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

He served as Steve Spagnuolo’s offensive coordinator for two forgettable seasons in St. Louis. During his first season his offensive scored a league-wrost 10.93 points per game on the way to compiling a 1-15 record. His offense was only marginally better in year two as the Rams ranked 26th in the league as the team scored 18.1 points per game.

Shurmur still manage to parlay that performance into a head coaching gig with the Browns. His offenses in Cleveland weren’t much better. The 2011 Browns scored 13.6 ppg (30th in the league) and the 2012 Browns scored 18.9 ppg (24th overall). In Shurmur’s defense, it should be noted that he wasn’t working with what many would term a dynamic set of playmakers on any of those teams.

Regardless, Shurmur’s role probably won’t extend far beyond providing a pro-style perspective as Kelly implements and calls his offense.

It looks like a familiar face will be returning to Philadelphia to help new head coach Chip Kelly implement his offense.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kelly has former Browns head coach Pat Shurmur as his offensive coordinator.

Shurmur, who was fired by the Browns after a 5-11 season, coached in Philadelphia under former head coach Andy Reid from 1999-2008. He served as tight ends coach from 1999-2001 before moving to quarterbacks coach.

Certainly, there will be some fans who cringe at the news that the team is reverting back to one of the more influential voices of it’s old regime, but Shurmur;s presence is likely to be more about providing a more traditional NFL perspective as Kelly develops his offense at the professional level.

Shurmur interviewed last week for the vacant Jets offensive coordinator job, but was passed over in favor of former Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

It remains to be seen if the Eagles will get those additional weapons Donovan McNabb requested in his blog earlier this month, but the team sure did load up on coaches today.

In addition to filling the vacancy left when John Harbaugh was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the Eagles added three new coaches to the staff.

Sean McDermott, after spending one season as the linebackers coach, returned to the role of secondary coach, which was Harbaugh’s job last season. Bill Shuey, after five seasons in the role of a quality control coach, will take over as the linebackers coach.

Coach Andy Reid also added two former Eagles players – Otis Smith and Mike Caldwell – to his staff and named former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple as an offensive assistant.

..Continue Reading at the Philadelphia Inquirer>>

It’s not very surprising that Andy Reid fills the vacant secondary coach, and then linebackers coach from within. Then he brings in Whipple as an insurance policy in case Pat Shurmur or Marty Mornhinweg get a coaching job some where else. Then to replace the quality control coaches Reid brings in two former players of his who he feels will be good positional coaches in the future.

I trust Reid’s judgment when it comes to coaches, because of his track record with them. Many Eagles coaches have gone on to get bigger jobs around the league. Brad Childress became the Vikings head coach, Ron Rivera became the Bears defensive coordinator, John Harbaugh got the Ravens head coaching position, and Steve Spagnuolo became the Giants defensive coordinator.