Adam Schefter on Chip Kelly and the Eagles: "Both sides are sick of each other"
By Jason McIntyre
Chip Kelly’s had an up-and-down 3rd season in Philadelphia, and Sunday’s 45-17 drubbing at the hands of the Bucs was certainly the low point. After seemingly every Eagles loss this season, fans and media flock to social media to proclaim Kelly is a goner at season’s end.
Never mind that he’s one of a handful of coaches in the NFL with total control over the roster, or that this is just his 3rd year – and the 3rd straight year his starting QB has gotten injured – but the fans and media love to bash Chip Kelly.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who isn’t really connected when it comes to the Eagles, and hasn’t broken significant news on the team in over a year, went on Sirius XM radio and dropped a couple bombs. Somehow, he hasn’t mentioned any of this on ESPN, but perhaps it’s coming.
Here’s the audio from Sirius XM Radio:
"The momentum and signs seem to be piling up against a Chip return to Philadelphia. I think both sides are sick of each other. I think the fans are tired of him, I think he’s tired of the situation there – just my read from afar … I just think that Chip Kelly, if given a choice, might be comfortable elsewhere …"
NFL fans angry? There’s a shocker. Knee-jerk Eagles fans were sick of Andy Reid for years. He won a lot of games. Took them to a Super Bowl. And now, after 2.5 years, the fans want to dump Chip Kelly when he’s 11 months into his tenure of picking the roster?
Reminder: He inherited a 4-12 dumpster fire full of malcontents from Reid, and went 10-6 each of the first two years with a trip to the playoffs. He’s gutted the roster and is only now shaping it the way he wants. Does everyone need to be reminded how badly Bill Belichick failed in Cleveland, or Pete Carroll failed with the Patriots?
Yes, Kelly could pick any college job in the country – LSU, USC, South Carolina, Missouri – and they’d all throw a parade in his honor because he’s a tremendous football coach.
The guess here is that Kelly stays. This offseason, he’s going to have his choice of a read option/zone read/athletic QB, either Colin Kapernick, Robert Griffin III, or even Johnny Manziel (whom Kelly recruited at Oregon). Fix that secondary and offensive line, finally get the QB that fits – Bradford was a band-aid, the best option in an offseason of slim QB pickings – and the Eagles will be fine.
Patience, Philadelphia Eagles fans.
[UPDATE: An ESPN spokesman emailed in the following: Adam Schefter broke the LeSean McCoy trade, the Nick Foles trade, the Eagles cutting Tim Tebow (Jay Glazer had the signing) and DeMarco Murray signing with Philadelphia. This is true. One thing to remember with the first two – they came completely out of nowhere. No leaks from the Eagles about what was happening, just a massive news item shocking everyone. How that usually works at the highest levels: Teams talk trade possibilities, agree not to talk about it with the media, and once the deal is done, the agent is immediately notified. The agents, who love to peddle information with media members for favors/exclusives/access later, quickly hand the news to the top reporter at the most high-profile network.]