Philadelphia Eagles: The perplexing case of Chip Kelly

Despite two back-to-back 10-win seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Chip Kelly amidst a sub-.500 season

So now what? That’s the question some Philadelphia Eagles fans are asking, while other fans have no questions and are simply rejoicing.

Regardless, everybody has an opinion on the sudden firing of Chip Kelly. It’s hard not to, since Kelly was such a polarizing guy.

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The decision made by Chairman and CEO of the team Jeffery Lurie isn’t necessarily shocking, though.

Kelly’s time with the Eagles was … well, it’s actually hard to pinpoint a word that most accurately represents his tenure with the team. I think ‘unique’ might be the best way to describe it, though.

Things seemed great early on. Kelly brought his high-octane offense to the Eagles, and after Michael Vick got hurt, Kelly inserted second-year man Nick Foles to throw the ball. Foles proved to be a revelation, as he tossed 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

Kelly seemed like he was a football genius who knew something the rest of the league didn’t.

Despite losing a home playoff game, it seemed like Kelly’s Eagles were going to be the NFC East favorite for years to come.

But then Kelly released superstar wide receiver DeSean Jackson for having “gang ties.” If you want to find a single point in time when things started to go south for Kelly, there you go.

In 2014, the team finished 10-6, but a late-season loss to Jackson’s Redskins — D-Jax caught four balls for 126 yards that game — knocked the team out of the playoffs.

The offseason that followed proved to be Kelly’s greatest faux pas. The Eagles appointed Kelly head of player personnel almost immediately following week 17 of 2014, meaning Kelly could make whatever moves he saw fit.

Nobody could’ve predicted what move Kelly would make, but they would prove to send shockwaves through the entire NFL.

Kelly — try to keep up here — traded Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford, traded LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for Kiko Alonso, signed DeMarco Murray to a $42 million contract and signed Byron Maxwell to a $63 million contract.

“Whether he admitted it or not, it certainly seemed like Kelly didn’t want to win with any of Andy Reid‘s hand-me-downs.”

Despite immensely overpaying for Murray and Maxwell, Kelly opted to let star receiver Jeremy Maclin walk in free agency and felt comfortable rolling with his inexperienced wide outs.

The moves didn’t stop there, as Kelly cut ties with two pieces of his offensive line, releasing both Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans. The move, while not nearly as publicized as letting go of McCoy, Maclin or Jackson, emphasized Kelly’s belief in the “next man up” philosophy, which simply doesn’t work in the NFL.

Through a season of play, it’s easy to see Kelly made some monumental errors. Going into the season, many expected the Eagles to either win it all, or crumble miserably. Either way, it was going to be an interesting year.

The team was one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. They were outscored 90-31 in a two-game span, and the home loss against Tampa Bay featured some of the most boos I’ve ever heard.

Kelly’s new pieces didn’t exactly pan out, either.

For starters, Murray, who is not a shotgun back, was benched by year’s end. Last year’s rushing-yards champ has a measly 181 carries for 633 yards through 14 games. Murray’s obviously a talented back, but he just wasn’t the right fit for Kelly’s offense.

Like Murray, Maxwell, who is not a man-to-man corner, struggled heavily throughout the year. Again, it’s not that Maxwell is necessarily a bad corner, but he was expected to be the “lockdown” guy when he was anything but that for the first four years of his career.

Sammy Watkins is going to win people fantasy leagues.
47-yard DEEP TD catch and he made it look easy. #BUFvsPHI https://t.co/4IjpBvEyMB
— NFL (@NFL) December 13, 2015

Kiko Alonso — remember, he missed the 2014 with a torn ACL — has started one game and has only made 34 tackles. He got outplayed by rookie Jordan Hicks, and he hasn’t shown the flash he had during his rookie year.

Bradford was “okay” (17 TDs, 13 INTs, 3,405 yards, 84.6 QBR) when he was healthy, but that’s about all you get with Bradford. I think this year was truly the best Bradford could ever be in Kelly’s offense.

Hell, Kelly’s best move was probably signing Walter Thurmond III to a one-year deal and creating one of the most efficient safety duos in the league.

Philadelphia wasn’t only haunted by the trades made by Kelly. You could make the argument that the lack of depth was even more damaging, which once again, is a product of Kelly’s “next man up” belief.

I give Kelly an enormous amount of credit. He took risks and made his team. The only problem was that the risks didn’t pay off and his team was filled with guys who were playing in the wrong scheme.

Unfortunately, Kelly lost control of the players, which is never a good thing.

Among the things DeMarco Murray told owner Jeffrey Lurie weeks ago was that he had no confidence in Chip Kelly as head coach, I'm told.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2015

“Chip Kelly has lost the team,” an agent of an Eagles’ starter said in late November, according to Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. “Between the losses and bull methods that aren’t working, I can tell you that the players have turned on him.”

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So what happens next for the Eagles?

If I had to guess, I would say Bradford leaves. Bradford bet on himself this year and he probably did enough to at least earn himself a quarterback battle elsewhere.

I would also guess Murray stays, assuming the Eagles hire a head coach who will use him the right way. As far as Maxwell goes, the Eagles have no choice but to keep his hefty salary.

NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling writes, “Even though Maxwell is overpaid and stretched as a No.1 cover corner, the Eagles don’t have the luxury of dumping his salary. They simply lack quality depth at that position.”

Philadelphia needs, and deserves a new head coach. A caveat that would come from a potential HC candidate is the fact that this is still Kelly’s team. No other coach has the mindset of Kelly, so it may be a little tough.

With that being said, I think Sean McDermott is the clear-cut frontrunner. McDermott has served as the Panthers defensive coordinator since 2011, and he learned under the late, great Jim Johnson in Philadelphia. McDermott knows the Eagles, what it takes to win in that town and he’s done a phenomenal job with the Panthers.

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McDermott would have a field day with that vaunted Eagles defense. The problem, though, is the offense.

Whoever the Eagles choose as their next head coach will likely be greeted with open arms, for the sole reason that they won’t trade the team’s best offensive weapons. Changes are coming. But if you’re an Eagles fan, that’s an abundantly good thing.