Philadelphia Eagles Coach Chip Kelly Officially The Man
Dec 14, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly before the start of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
A somewhat nerve-wracking and hand-wringing Friday ended in the early evening hours, when Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie decided to make something abundantly clear – something quite out of character for an organization that typically cloaks all decisions in darkness.
The Philadelphia Eagles are officially tied to the Good Ship Chip.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is now officially the man in South Philly.
Just a few dozen hours after the Eagles and Vice President of Player Personnel Tom Gamble apparently decided to “agree to part ways,” setting off speculation that General Manager Howie Roseman had won an internal power struggle against Chip Kelly, it was Lurie who dropped the biggest bombshell on Friday, essentially demoting Roseman while elevating Kelly to a power level on par with guys like Bill Belichick.
Speculation Friday was much the opposite, going so far as to some outlandish reports that Kelly was asking out of his contract and mulling a return to college coaching.
Instead, Kelly now has the final say on everything that has to do with who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, with the exceptions of their contracts, who provides medical care and who takes care of the equipment. Those are the jobs of now former GM Howie Roseman (“elevated” to Executive Vice President of Football Operations).
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Hey, you can call Howie the Grand Poobah of the Schuylkill for all I care, but the message is clear. In Philadelphia, it’s Chip’s way, or the highway.
“Working with Chip (Kelly), Howie (Roseman) and Don (Smolenski) we came up with what we believe will be a more thorough and thoughtful model that would best be overseen by Chip. It’s most important that we find players that match what our coaches are seeking,” Lurie said in a press release from the Eagles.
“You have heard me say many times that I want strong leaders who feel free to express their opinions. And that is what happened here. Chip will now lead this process going forward with the continued full support of Howie, Don and myself.
“Chip will not be doing this work by himself, obviously. He has been charged with recruiting and hiring a new personnel executive that will report directly to him and together we will move forward with this new, highly integrated approach.”
Read into this all what you will, but the bottom line is if there was a power struggle, Chip won out. If there wasn’t a power struggle, Lurie decided out of the blue that he wanted Chip to be calling all of the shots.
Either way, the fate of your Philadelphia Eagles is now firmly tied to Chip Kelly. Every person on the player personnel side of the organization will report directly to Chip, and Chip will report directly to no one other than Lurie.
Whether this is the beginning of a new era of success or the beginning of the end will be better known in a few years.
Thoughts? Comment below.