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Former Eagles coach Chip Kelly gives credit to Doug Pederson

By Justin Grasso

FOXBORO, MA - DECEMBER 06: Head coach Chip Kelly of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on during the game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on December 6, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
FOXBORO, MA - DECEMBER 06: Head coach Chip Kelly of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on during the game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on December 6, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /
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Former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly doesn’t seem to be too bitter towards the guy who replaced him.

The Philadelphia Eagles fan base has seen some dark days over the years. To say that the 2000’s era has been challenging to watch at times would be an understatement. Thankfully, for the first time, the Eagles finally brought a Vince Lombardi trophy to the beautiful city of Philadelphia this past February. And we have head coach Doug Pederson to thank for that.

Just a few years back, the Eagles were running a quite ‘innovative’ offense in the NFL. Their head coach at the time, Chip Kelly implemented his fast-paced style from the NCAA into the pros. While it looked like it could work after a 10-6 season with a playoff appearance in year one, we found out quickly that a strictly college-style offense would not work out long-term in the pros.

After three season’s, the Eagles showed Chip Kelly the door, and the fan base couldn’t have been more thrilled. To this day, Eagles fans remain unforgiven towards Kelly, despite the team winning their first Super Bowl in franchise history. But it looks like the former Eagles’ play-caller doesn’t seem to be bitter towards the first NFL organization to can him. In fact, Chip had some kind words for the guy that replaced him.

Say what?

NFL Reporter Albert Breer recently had a brief discussion with the former Eagles head coach regarding the differences and similarities between NCAA and NFL offenses. Although we haven’t had full access to the conversation yet, Breer let us in on a little sneak peak over at Sports Illustrated earlier on Monday. Here’s what Chip had to say about Pederson’s second year as the Eagles head coach.

"“I don’t think it’s revolutionary,” Kelly said. “I think things trickle-up and trickle-down. And I think when you have good coaches, they don’t try to put a box of what they do. They say, ‘How do we adapt to what we have?’ And I thought what Doug (Pederson) did last year at Philly was as phenomenal a coaching job as I’ve seen in that way. He adapted from Carson (Wentz) to Nick (Foles). What a great coach does is he puts guys in position to make plays, and that’s what he did with those guys.”"

Keep in mind, the question that was directed towards Kelly had nothing to do with the Eagles, exactly. He just made sure to give credit where it was due as he pointed out the obvious incredible adjustment that Pederson made when he went from Carson Wentz to Nick Foles late in the season.

Next: Derek Barnett turns 22 years old

Nobody can deny Pederson’s spectacular coaching adjustments from 2017. Not even the guy that replaced him. While the Eagles’ fan base will most likely never warm up to Chip Kelly, it was still interesting to see him call Pederson a phenomenal coach. Now, let’s hope that Pederson can continue to impress his coaching peers on both levels. We will see how he adjusts to going from an underdog to the top-dog.

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