The Chip Kelly Honeymoon Begins

There's a lot to love about Chip Kelly. But one simple thing I enjoy is his press conference demeanor. Like Andy Reid before him, Kelly isn't going to give out any useful information. While that may rankle the beat reporters, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the way Kelly always manages to say something interesting, even when he's not saying anything. Forget "We'll have to look at that." The new coach isn't afraid to poke fun at a reporter or turn a question on its head, and he's quick with the one-liners. His most recent 15 minute question and answer session on Monday was a tour de force. Here are some of the best lines:

Hypothetically, Chip, what are you looking for in your offensive coordinator?

"I don't mean to say it this way, and I'm not being gruff, but I'm not a hypothetical guy," Kelly said. "Hypothetically, I want a guy who can score a billion points in a game."

About those darn fast practices you ran at Oregon — can you replicate that in the NFL?

"You have to adjust to the numbers," Kelly said. "The Philadelphia Eagles are a football team, not a cross country team. If we go at the pace that we practiced at Oregon, we'd have a real good cross country team. But we're not playing at Valley Forge Park."

Alright, Chip, what about the defensive coordinator?

"I'll give you a new word -- Shutoutability. That would be the one, overriding quality," Kelly joked. "I'm not sure how we can define that, but that's a pretty good word. ... If you have Shutoutability, I need to talk to you."

* * *

We're currently in the dark about the Eagles defensive coordinator, which will be the second-most important coaching role on the team. All we have are a few names of likely assistants: DL coach Jerry Azzinaro seems to be following Kelly from Oregon. Other college coaches, namely Rick Minter and Bill McGovern, have also been rumored.

On the offensive side, most of the coaches seem unlikely to share Kelly's background in the hurry-up, read-option spread offense. He is supposedly keeping Duce Staley on for the running backs and moving Ted Williams to tight ends (odd if only because Williams has been a consistently great RBs coach since he started in 1997). The big rumor is that Pat Shurmur, former Reid assistant for a decade and most recently the Browns head coach, is coming back on board as offensive coordinator. 

Hiring Shurmur is a fascinating move that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense on the surface. Why bring in someone who has spent his career teaching the West Coast offense, rather than one who is more compatible with the head coach's schemes? Kelly painted an interesting picture on Monday:

“I think you need a lot of different personalities. I think if not, everything’s the same. And I think for you to flourish, there’s a lot of different things you need. You need really, really smart people. I think you need people that are dedicated. And sometimes, you need people that are just a little bit off too, so it’s a rare combination. But I don’t want everybody to be the same because I don’t think we’d grow as a group. I think we need to challenge each other.”

Kelly is still going to mastermind the offense and call the plays, one assumes. The Eagles aren't going to retain the same offensive system that they've run for years. But as long as they can coexist, adding a completely different perspective could be quite positive. Kelly is a run-first coach who doesn't have experience attacking NFL defenses. Adding a veteran voice who can tutor quarterbacks and help him out in the passing game might help smooth out that transition. Kelly also warned against tying people to one scheme or another. Shurmur's only 47, and he might get another shot as a head coach down the road. A partnership with Kelly (i.e. learning as well as teaching) is potentially beneficial to him as well.

* * *

Do we want a GM who spurns Tommy Lawlor at the Senior Bowl? I think not:

So I’m standing there watching the OL drills and trying to find us a tackle or guard to draft.  Howie walks over and stands kind of in front of me.  There is a pecking order where coaches, GMs, and senior scouts can stand where they want.  The rest of us deal with it.  Howie wasn’t rude, just wanted to be as close to the drill as possible.  Anyway…I figure I’ll just play it cool and watch the drill.  Howie looks around between reps.  He glances at me, since I’m wearing an Eagles shirt.  I’m still locked into the players.  I can feel he’s staring at me so I make eye contact.  He’s confused because he sees the shirt, but knows I’m not part of his staff and he’s never seen me at the NovaCare.  I mention I write for the team’s website, shake his hand, and mention what a great day it is (safe, general comment).  Howie just walked away, probably because he didn’t want me seeing who/what he was watching.  Would have been nice to have more than a 10-second conversation, but I got the vibe that forcing the issue would have been a bad idea so I let him be.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Photo from Getty.

What Happened to Gus?

I agree with Tommy Lawlor. This is an unfortunate development:

I do think there was some type of breakdown. The Eagles aggressively brought in Gus for the second interview. I realize that the first one was short and they knew the least about him, but the way they did this made it feel as if he was the guy they wanted. If the Eagles loved everything they heard on Tuesday, I guarantee you they’d have made him a strong offer and he’d be the coach.

Does Gus leaving mean he’s done as a candidate? That’s a tough question. I think it would all boil down to whether there was a dispute with the Eagles or whether he simply gave answers they didn’t like. A dispute can be settled. If he scared them off because he gave bad answers, that is something that probably can’t be fixed. Who knows, though. Maybe Howie and Lurie will step back and discuss the situation and still feel that he’s the best guy, even with whatever flaw they’re worried about.

There's no more due diligence to do on Bradley. Either Lurie likes him or he doesn't. And letting him fly out to Jacksonville gives a pretty clear signal.

Head Coach Search Diary: Grab Bag

I started to profile each of the Eagles potential head coaching candidates, but at this point they're flying by too fast for me to write up a long post on each one. Plus, others have hopped on the bandwagon and done a lot of in-depth research already. Let's talk about some of the recently rumored candidates in more abbreviated fashion.

First up is the trio of Falcons assistants that quickly whittled down to just a pair. The Eagles' initial attempt to interview all of Atlanta's coordinators was bizarre. Both Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan only arrived a year ago, so it wasn't about importing talent from a top organization. And then you add special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong in the mix for no apparent reason.

Koetter -- profiled here by Jason Brewer -- pulled out of the search process yesterday when he received a long-term contract extension to remain with the Falcons. All I can say is good riddance. The former college head coach at Boise State and Arizona State ran the Jaguars offense from 2007-2011 with nothing positive to show for it. The Falcons have a good offense this year, but they had essentially the same DVOA before Koetter showed up. Nothing special there.

Nolan, on the other hand, has commanded a number of top NFL defenses over the last 20 years as coordinator or head coach. He's intriguing on that level, but that level alone. When he finally was promoted to the top job with the 49ers in 2007, he flamed out. Over four seasons he managed only a pitiful .327 winning percentage. Tommy Lawlor discussed Nolan and the other Falcons candidates, and he concluded that the coach may have learned from his mistakes, like Bill Belichick before him. One point Tommy makes is that multiple coaches recently have won Super Bowls with their second teams: Belichick, Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden. I think that's quite unlikely in Nolan's case.

If you go back and look through all 32 retread candidates hired since 1999, you'll notice a striking pattern. The best second-chance coaches, while they may not have won a Super Bowl with their previous team, demonstrated some level of success. They had winning records overall. They won playoff games. Guys like Dungy, Gruden, John Fox, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Pete Carroll -- they all finished their previous NFL job above .500 and with playoff games won. Belichick is actually the only successful retread coach I found who didn't have a winning record the first time through, although he did win one playoff game. Unless you think Nolan is a once-in-a-lifetime coach like Belichick, I wouldn't take those odds.

As to Armstrong, I'm sorry to say this but he seems like a classic Rooney Rule interview. He already interviewed with both the Bears and the Chiefs (right before Kansas City brought Andy Reid to town and seem likely to keep him there). What makes it especially obvious is that he's not even the best special teams coach out there. That would be Dave Toub of the Bears, who has managed to keep Chicago in the top ten special teams DVOA for all but one year since his arrival in 2004 (plus three number one overall finishes). The sad truth is that, even as offense dominates the league more and more, only one NFL offensive play caller is a minority. That limits the pool of potentially worthy Rooney Rule interviewees. 

Two other fringe candidates that were mentioned in connection with the Eagles, at least in passing, were Syracuse coach Doug Marrone (see Jason's profile) and Washington coach Steve Sarkisian. Both have turned downtrodden college football programs into at least respectable successes. Neither has a resume that screams home run, but they are offensive gurus with some NFL experience. Overall they seem like interesting Plan B choices, but nothing to get excited about right now. If the Eagles hired a defensive head coach though, luring one of these promising candidates back to the pros as a highly-paid offensive coordinator might be an interesting avenue to explore.

Mike McCoy, offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, is reportedly scheduled to interview with the Eagles on Sunday. That's the first name on this list so far that I'm highly interested in. Jason did another breakdown for McCoy, and you can see what I mean. The 40 year-old played quarterback at the University of Utah and tried to bust into the NFL, CFL, and NFL Europe with little success. He ended up as an offensive assistant with the Panthers, and eventually became the quarterback coach for Jake Delhomme's best years. McCoy then jumped to Denver in 2009, where he worked under Josh McDaniels. Despite a poor overall record, the coaching duo actually made Kyle Orton look like a competent starter.

In 2011, John Fox came to the Broncos and kept McCoy on and gave him a chance to demonstrate some amazing offensive flexibility. After starting the season with Orton at the helm, McCoy masterfully rebooted the offense for Tim Tebow, using his (limited) strengths instead of forcing him into the old system. After that experiment ran its course, McCoy transitioned to working with Peyton Manning and helped the future Hall of Famer put up one of his best seasons at age 36. When Lurie talks about wanting a coach who can analyze the world of football, find "inefficiencies," and convert a team to take advantage, McCoy sounds like the type of coach he's talking about.

Photo from Getty

Danny Watkins Would Lose At Limbo

Tommy Lawlor, in his official Detailed Game Review (emphasis mine):

WATKINS - The gameplan called for King Dunlap to block to his inside a few times on pass plays. Danny would then do a short pull and take on the edge rusher. I’m not a huge fan of this tactic. Very mixed results. Danny had a couple of good blocks. Jake Bequette gave him fits on a couple. Up and down beyond that. There are times when he anchors and does a really good job. There are other plays where athletic moves get the best of him and he’s then holding on for dear life. I do like the fact that he won’t give up when beaten. Smart. Do what you can to protect the QB/RB.

Not to pick on Tommy, who covers both the good and the bad here, but at some point you've lowered the bar too much.

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

Tommy Lawlor wonders if Dion Lewis might be the guy to break Marty Mornhinweg's constant dependence on a single running back:

Dion Lewis could be the RB to change all of this. The key is that he’s not just a runner. Dion, based on this summer, looks like he could be a weapon in the passing game as well. He must show that he can be counted on as a blocker. For those who might compare him to Ryan Moats because both guys are small, don’t. Lewis is already an infinitely better blocker than Moats was.

I agree with Tommy that the Eagles need to spread the load around where possible. Running backs just don't last long in the NFL, and the more you can rest them, the healthier they'll be. However, the problem with Lewis is that he's essentially a (very) poor man's version of McCoy. Even if he's as good as recent reports out of training camp suggest, Lewis will always be worse than McCoy at pretty much every phase of the game. Thus, having him replace McCoy is always a loss for the offense.

I think one of the reasons Correll Buckhalter was a good complement to Brian Westbrook is that he could do many of the same things, but had a different style and different strengths. It's (similar to) a comparative advantage problem.

I Knew It

Tommy Lawlor:

Regular reader Jyot heard former Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah on the radio out in Seattle. Jeremiah said that the Eagles wanted to draft QB Russell Wilson in the 3rd round if he was available. The Seahawks took him ahead of us and the Eagles then went for Nick Foles.

Andy Reid basically spilled the beans on this during a press conference right after the draft. I was surprised he was so candid about how much the team liked Russell Wilson.

The most interesting dynamic is that you couldn’t find 2 QBs less alike. Wilson is short, but athletic. Foles is tall, but unathletic. Wilson struggles in the pocket. Foles is a pocket passer. Both guys did transfer, one from the Big Ten, the other out of the Big Ten.

I definitely called this right after the draft. #NotSoHumbleBrag

Introducing The Eagles Almanac 2012

Today I’m proud to introduce Eagles Almanac 2012.

This is a project that that has been in the works secretly for months, a collaboration between 10 of your favorite writers, bloggers, and reporters to create the single best, most comprehensive guide to the 2012 Philadelpha Eagles season. The book, which you can download now as a PDF, is more than 80 ad-free pages of absolutely wall-to-wall Eagles content. There’s statistics, analysis, opinion, predictions, and even a dash of personal reflection thrown in for good measure.

The Eagles Almanac features long articles and in-depth essays on all the biggest offseason questions, and provides insight into a whole host of topics. And it does it all in a beautiful, magazine-quality layout:

I’ve personally taken on the task of editing and publishing the Eagles Almanac, but all together it was a collaborative effort between myself and a bunch of fabulous authors:

Mike Tanier (Football Outsiders and The New York Times), broke down the failings of Juan Castillo’s defensive play calling.

Tommy Lawlor (Iggles Blitz) penned a comprehensive draft review, as well as a personal recollection of the 1992 Eagles season.

Sheil Kapadia (Moving the Chains) analyzed what exactly happened to Michael Vick last year.

Jason Brewer (Bleeding Green Nation) looked at how 2012 is shaping up to be make-or-break season for Andy Reid, after 13 years on the job.

Jimmy Kempski (Blogging the bEast) put together the only NFC East preview you will ever need to read.

Tom McAllister (Bury Me In My Jersey) discussed the fragility of rabid Eagles fandom at age 30.

Derek Sarley (IgglesBlog) asked if Nnamdi Asomugha is on his last legs, and wondered what’s going on with Evan Mathis.

Sam Lynch (IgglesBlitz) looked ahead to the team’s problems and potential in 2013 and beyond.

Gabe Bevilacqua (IgglesBlog) gives advice for living in a (cruel) world where the Giants have won two of the last five Super Bowls.

And your truly examined LeSean McCoy’s breakout 2011 season and how he can actually improve from here.

Plus so much more! Given the hard work that’s gone into this book from all of us, I think it’s a steal at our price of $4.99, and I hope you think so too. At the end of the day, it’s a chance to get more top-notch Eagles content and support your favorite writers at the same time.

Buy the Eagles Almanac 2012 today!

(And while you’re at it, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.)

Still Waiting for Jaiquawn Jarrett to Show Something

Dave Spadaro, via Tommy Lawlor:

I don’t see Kurt Coleman being challenged for the starting job by Jaiquawn Jarrett. Coleman had a very strong spring and is in terrific shape. The real question is: Where does Jarrett fit into the equation here?

Spuds coaches his comment with the idea that Coleman is just doing a great job, but when Jarrett can’t even get a qualified endorsement from the team’s own media (let alone coaches or other players), it’s very worrisome. Jarrett has no legitimate competition for back up safety, but if he can’t demonstrate anything positive now, over a year since he was drafted, at some point the team has to admit the mistake publicly and cut its losses. I’m starting to wonder if that time will come this offseason.