One of the best things a scout can say about a prospect in any sport is he (she) "has a chance to be special"…
It's the imprimatur of professional scouting. That label doesn't get passed around lightly.
It also applies to teams and coaches. Especially when the team takes on a new look based upon a coaching change.
And right now, I choose to believe that Chip Kelly's new regime in Philly has a chance to be special. Yes, it goes against conventional NFL thinking, which dictates a losing team with a new head coach needs at least two or three years to realize a metamorphosis into a winner. But for right now, I'm willing to dream a bigger dream.
I'm talking "Instant Karma" here. It's the kind of culture change that can knock you right upside the head.
It's happened before in pro sports. A new guy comes in and makes the players around him better. They're the same players—just better.
Catch a wave here and there, and suddenly you are in high contention.
It's all about seizing the chance to be special.
Conventional wisdom says the Eagles will have a good season if they improve to 7-9 in 2013.
That's a realistic and conservative outlook based upon historical evidence of many other franchises who have undergone regime change after a 4-12 season. Yet it does not account for "special".
"Special" is what happens when a bunch of guys in their primes get over the hump of disconnected adversities and finally put together a string of unpredictable W's.
Luck has a lot to do with it. Maybe the other team misses the last-second FG which you would have missed last season.
But the 2013 Eagles are as eligible to create special wins as any other team in the NFL right now. That's the beauty of the makeover in the offseason. Everyone is retooling and starting over. And with a new coaching staff and several key player additions, the Eagles are just as likely as any other team to become something special.
A lot of it is about physical health and talent. No getting around those factors. But so much of it is mental.
If nothing else, Chip Kelly and his staff are bringing a new mental approach to the sport.
He's got guys who were competent before now thinking they could be special players. It's a lot of mental work. You can't just show up and play ball. You can show up, play ball and be good. But Kelly has guys believing they have a chance to be really good. That's going to require a lot of mental work.
Number one, you have to recognize it takes an incredible amount of mental energy and mental effort to be a good football player. That means investing a lot of time when you're not on the field. I think Kelly has given his team that message.
The second thing that's important is making sure you understand what is said by the coaches and you're not overly focused on how it's said. In a practice, coaches are screaming. They're hollering and you're making mistakes. So many young players get affected by how the message is getting passed onto them and not what the message is. I think Kelly has realized this emotional reality and has compensated for it with distinct guidelines for his coaching staff. There will not be a "Washburn-Gate" on the 2013 Eagles.
The final thing is not getting frustrated. I think a lot of these guys who are new out there are prone to getting frustrated by their mistakes. But they can't get frustrated. You have to learn a little bit every day. The cumulative effect over time is going to pay dividends for them. That's all a work in progress. Kelly seems intent upon teaching them patience with the process.
The final ingredient is physicality on both sides of the ball— and really at every position. The Birds got whipped too many times at the line of scrimmage last year. There's nothing more important than playing fast and physical. That can make up for a bad step. That can make up for the wrong technique. If you're a physically tough football team, then generally you have a better chance to win.
I think Kelly has realized that fact and has addressed it. He's not going to have the luxury of "winging it" in the physicality department like Andy Reid did. Reid built his foundation upon the "big play" and speedy finesse. Kelly is taking it into a different dimension. He's trying to build a grinder.
It could all go up in smoke for all we know. But right now, the Eagles have a chance to be something special.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
