Eagles Reset Button?
Are the Eagles starting over?
There will be lots of new faces at the start of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ training camp, on July 25 at the NovaCare Complex. The team is hitting the reset button after a three-year relationship with Chip Kelly. Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia is a point of contentious debate. Chip came into the NFL after phenomenal success with the Oregon Ducks. Pundits made much to do about his great offensive mind, innovative practices, and navy seal sports science for good reason.
Management gone wrong
In Kelly’s first year, he took a 4-12 team and returned to the playoffs. After two 10-6 seasons, Chip was given control of player personnel. This resulted in the Eagles going 7-9. Kelly failed Eagles’ nation when he hastily eliminated top playmakers, such as DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy, without adequate replacements. Chip rapidly went from hero to zero in the city of brotherly love, and the rest is history.
Damage Control
In response owner Jeffrey Lurie abruptly fired Kelly before the last game of the season. The ousting of Kelly has resulted in a new purge of the roster, and the Eagles starting over. Eagles’ fans are stuck in the middle of a tumultuous overhaul, as the front office anxiously demolishes the foundation of the Kelly era and searches for a new identity. Even philly.com’s Mike Sielski had this to say about the owners’ disappointment with Chip:
“If you’ve been paying attention to the Eagles’ head-coaching saga – the firing of Chip Kelly, the hiring of Doug Pederson, the whole schmear in between – then you know Jeffrey Lurie has not exactly hidden his disdain for the deterioration of Kelly’s tenure with the team.”
To add to that, new head coach, Doug Pederson is an unknown commodity. Pederson returns to Philadelphia via the Kansas City Chiefs where he was the offensive coordinator. He is a protege of former Eagles coach, Andy Reid, and comes with his endorsement. Why Lurie felt that Pederson will be an upgrade over Kelly is unclear, but Reid’s recommendation apparently played a part in his decision. Hopefully, Pederson will rise to the occasion and become one of the league’s premiere coaches, much in the way the Baltimore Ravens‘ John Harbaugh catapulted out of Philadelphia into the pro football limelight.
An all new look for 2016?
The Eagles made a bold move in the 2016 NFL Draft when they traded multiple draft picks to the Cleveland Browns, in order to draft the rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz. If Wentz rises to the occasion, the Eagles could be well on their way to a turnaround. They have moved on via the direction of vice president of football operations, Howie Roseman, who seems hell-bent on erasing Kelly from Eagles’ culture with a vengeance. Roseman engineered the trades of Demarco Murray, Kiko Alonso, and Byron Maxwell. Howie even appeared willing to send Sam Bradford to the Denver Broncos for the right price. The Eagles have a very dedicated fan base that has suffered because of the drastic maneuvers of the past two seasons. It’s time for Philadelphia to get a ring, but Lurie should allow continuity with Roseman and coach Pederson before expecting the team to become Super Bowl contenders.
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Christopher DuVall is a writer for the Couch Rider Report. Follow him on Facebook.
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