The Philadelphia Eagles were beginning to get on their fans’ nerves. They were bouncing around the country talking to a mishmash of head-coaching candidates in a drawn-out process to replace Andy Reid. And then, out of nowhere, they announced that their original first choice, Chip Kelly, had changed his mind and was taking the job after all.
Eagles center Jason Kelce joined Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio to discuss new head coach Chip Kelly, his style and how it suits Kelce, the difference between coaching college players and NFL players and what this might mean for Michael Vick’s future in Philadelphia.
On his initial reaction to Chip Kelly being hired to replace Andy Reid:
“First of all surprised, because I didn’t know he was still in the running, and the fact that he was still an available coach to hire was not known to myself. But the things that he does on offense and the type of plays that he runs I think suits the personnel we have on offense very well. And I think from a leader and a head coach perspective, I think he’s been successful long enough to know that he’s got those intangibles as well.”
On it being advantageous that he’s smaller but more athletic, which suits Kelly’s typical offense:
“That’s my style. It suits me best to be able to use my athleticism. So that we’ll bring in a coach that will be able to take advantage of that, I’m excited for it.”
On what Kelly should know about the different between coaching college players and coaching NFL players:
“I think the main thing that college coaches have to adapt to in the NFL is you’re no longer working with a college athlete. You’re working with an NFL athlete, and the mindsets of those two players are completely different. What I mean by that is, in college they’re doing so many different things from class to football, and you really didn’t have any other options. You can transfer somewhere else but then you’re gone for a year. You’re going to listen to what Coach says no matter what and they can be as hard on you as they want. In the NFL, guys that have been doing this for 10, 12 years, are they really gonna put up with you berating them and stuff like that? So it’s a little bit different coaching those two players, but I think Chip has been doing it long enough where he knows how to adapt his coaching philosophies.”
On the possibility that the Eagles now decide to keep Michael Vick:
“That is the first thing that popped into my mind because I think, obviously, the outlook after the season was everybody thought Mike would kind of be out of here. But yeah, you look at Oregon’s offense and obviously Mike kind of fits that mold a little bit. Now, whether we run the exact same offense that they run at Oregon, that’s still up for debate. I mean, he said already, I guess, that the offense that he runs will be dictated based upon the personnel that he has. So I guess we’ll find that out in a few more months.”
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