I guess you really appreciate the continuity of the Andy Reid regime in Philly when your new wunderkind coach does a belly-flop dive in his third season…
It’s a high-risk business coaching in the NFL… and even riskier when folks in your own organization are pulling against you. But skullduggery be acknowledged, Chip Kelly sealed his own failure in Philadelphia with a damn-the-torpedoes approach and a “failure to communicate”.
What is minimized in all this drama is the effect on long-term fan supporters. We were sold a bill of goods by ownership and management three years ago and now we have to start over— once again. We have to learn all over who’s really in charge of the team. It’s a lot of work to follow the Eagles when things are stable— it’s even more demanding of our fans to grasp the inner direction of the team when chaos and uncertainty rule again for the second time in four years since Andy went away.
If nothing else, the Walrus was consistent…and stable… until he wasn’t.
The Prince of Up-Tempo said all the right things last night:
“I’m am deeply grateful to [owner] Jeffrey Lurie for allowing me to coach his Philadelphia Eagles for the past three seasons,” Chip Kelly said in a statement. “I deeply regret that we did not bring this great city and its fans the championship they deserve. I was blessed to work with a gifted and hard-working coaching staff every day, and they will succeed wherever they go.”
“My players mean the world to me,” he said. “I will miss them very much, and I will be rooting for them to achieve their dreams. Life is all about responding to challenges and seizing opportunities.”
But what about we fans? Aren’t we the ones whom are owed accountability too? Why does this feel like we are paying for a revolving stage performance? Who or what is behind the next curtain? This is the essence of my complaint about how the firing of Chip Kelly has been handled— Shouldn’t you have his replacement lined up before he hits the street with his $13.5 million buyout?
I’m not saying the firing of Kelly was impulsive— clearly Mr. Lurie had been contemplating the move for some time. But there is no logical or evident backup plan for Kelly’s replacement. That seems irresponsible to me. It feels like Lurie has left the entire future direction of the franchise dangling in the wind.
Lurie said he wants “someone who interacts and communicates very clearly with everyone he works with.”
Gee, that narrows it down to about a thousand social workers and maybe a hundred concession vendors—but not many proven head football coaches.
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, who was Kelly’s first draft pick, seems to buy into that liberal Lurie-speak and complains his former coach was considered by many players to be “unapproachable.”
“I want to see a guy who really cares about his players and isn’t so set in his ways so we can all go in the same direction,” Johnson said. “I think Chip had good intentions. I just think that he didn’t have a good way to go about it, and sometimes it came off a little bit standoffish toward y’all. That’s just his way. I don’t know if he had anybody to confide in, but I think all in all, I know he cared about the players.”
Of course he cared about the players. Just ask Victor Cruz, for example [if you don’t know that story, email me and I will explain it]. But as stupid as some of Kelly’s stubborn addictions were to stuttering offensive schemes, I refuse to indict him for lack of fuzzy feelings.
This is a business, Lane Johnson— deal with it. This is Big Boy Football.
Quarterback Sam Bradford, who should be a free agent after the season, said he still wants to return next year despite all the uncertainty. “Chip was great to me,” he said. “It’s tough to lose him.”
Lurie said he met with players as a group Wednesday and had smaller meetings planned with them later in the week. I don’t know about you, but the increasing involvement of Mr. Lurie in the locker room troubles me as a fan. I don’t begrudge him his right to send Chip Kelly packing, and God knows I was not devastated when Kelly was released— but when Lurie first began interacting with his players like a social worker I became concerned about the leadership of this team. Now it’s come to this. I don’t like it.
It makes us look like a bunch of Self-Esteem Campers at Lake Free-To-Be-You-and-Me. It’s demeaning to the profession if you ask me. And it makes it even more difficult for a new head coach with a competitive edge to come in here and rip the entire culture of softness asunder.
Too bad the fans can’t fire an owner. Lurie’s behavior since letting Andy Reid go has been erratic to say the least.
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