“This was a three-year evaluation of where we are heading, what is the trajectory, what is the progress or lack thereof and what did I anticipate for the foreseeable future”, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told reporters on Wednesday. “Chip Kelly, to me, is a really good football coach and he does a great job and has done a good job with that team”.
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Lurie made it clear he wants a coach who can relate to his players and everyone else in the building. Lastly, you’ve got to open your heart to players and everybody you want to achieve peak performance. “I would call it – I would call it a style of leadership that values information, all the resources that are provided, and at the same time, values emotional intelligence”. “I think in today’s world, a combination of all those factors creates the best chance to succeed”.
“I was fascinated by how they practiced”, Vermeil said. “I have a lot of respect for them”. Look, I’m not there.
Vermeil, who coached the Eagles to a 54-47 record, four playoff appearance and one NFC title from 1976-82, grew fond of Kelly right away after seeing him work up close. At the time, it was thought of by some as little more than players who were angry that they weren’t wanted taking shots at an ex-coach, but Lurie’s comments could indicate that there’s more to it than that. However, going forward I think a much more collaborative approach between player personnel and coaching is the way to go. I just think schematically, there were things we could’ve been done differently. That’s just his way.
Kelly was sacked on Tuesday after missing the playoffs for a second straight season and failing in his first year in charge of personnel. Of course a new head coach is at the top of the list.
“I’m not curious anymore about how I would do in the NFL”, Brian Kelly said. But there was an obvious disconnect between coach and players.
“Chip is a great coach”.
Over the next week, the owner plans on meeting with all of his players, a process that he said has already started with a players-only meeting on Wednesday. “But it is disappointing to look at coaches like Coach [Greg] Schiano or Coach [Mike] Shanahan or Coach [Chip] Kelly or guys like that”.
Lurie doesn’t plan to hire a GM. Lurie said he would consider college coaches and retired coaches as well as current National Football League head coaches and assistants. “But pretty much everybody’s on a one-year contract in this league”. You have 22- to 35-aged people, people who are elite athletes, and there are a lot of issues. “That’s why the decision was made”.
When asked about Kelly’s dismissal, Murray responded Thursday: “You never wish that upon anyone”.
He also gave big money in free agency to running back DeMarco Murray and cornerback Byron Maxwell. While it is no surprise that Chip Kelly was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles, it is shocking that it happened before the end of the season.
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Kelly famously said on the sideline during a rout over the Giants in October 2014: “Culture will beat scheme every day”.
