Eagles

Report: Eagles New Head Coach is CHIP KELLY

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jan 16th, 2013 · 12:11 PM EST

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Photoshop courtesy of (@PhillySportLive)

WAIT, WHAT?!

The Eagles will hire CHIP KELLY as their head coach. The story was first reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, on Twitter, and Philly Mag's Tim McManus, on 97.5 The Fanatic.

Kelly never announced that he was returning to Oregon, but multiple reports last week said that his flirtation with the NFL got him a massive raise thanks to Oregon booster Phil Knight. Now, this. Something happened. Someone (from the Eagles) stepped up. Is it possible Kelly used Oregon to get a bigger payday in the NFL? Wow.

This is a great misdirection by the Eagles, but no way it was the plan. No way they knew they had Kelly all along. They didn't fly Gus Bradley here for milk and cookies. If Kelly informed his players last night, then the Eagles found out either while Bradley was at Lurie's house or immediately thereafter.

The big question will be whether the Eagles will keep Michael Vick around. They reportedly floated the idea to Kelly that Vick could run his offense.

UPDATE 1: Jay Glazer confirms.

UPDATE 2: Kelly reportedly spoke to his players last night and is on his way to Philly. We'll find that flight for you…

UPDATE 3: Reuben Frank confirms. It's done.

UPDATE 4: Familiarize yourself with Kelly's offense with this Grantland article.

UPDATE 5: Jeffrey Lurie dangles it out FOR ALL TO SEE in this statement:

Chip Kelly, known for possessing strong leadership and one of the most innovative minds in football today, will be the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles – the 21^st head coach in the franchise’s history.

Kelly – with his fast-paced offense and aggressive play calling – has been the head coach at the University of Oregon. He met with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, team president Don Smolenski and general manager Howie Roseman early in the head coach search in Arizona after the Fiesta Bowl for almost nine hours with both sides engaging in a wide ranging, enthusiastic discussion of everything from football philosophy to management and organizational values and ideas. The conversations continued until Kelly decided he wanted to remain at the University of Oregon.

Still, Kelly continued to evaluate the opportunity to work for the Eagles in the NFL.

“Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles,” said Lurie. “He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team.”

 

No word on when there will be a press conference.

UPDATE 6: We can't find any flights from anywhere near Oregon to Philly right now. So, it would appear Kelly is not en route, yet.

UPDATE 7: NFL analyst Donovan McNabb weighs in:

After 11-12 interviews and the Eagles go back to the coach who spoke about going back to Oregon. Wow, seems there's a lot of confusion there

— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) January 16, 2013

 

UPDATE 8: One person who may not be happy about the Eagles hiring Kelly… is LeSean McCoy. Nine days ago, he retweeted this Tweet from Ike Reese and Reuben Frank:

via (@darganator)

UPDATE 9: Kelly is reportedly holding a conference call with his Oregon coaches right now:

According to DuckTerritory's Justin Hopkins, members of the Oregon coaching staff first heard of this news via Twitter. Hopkins indicates that a conference call is planned with the staff and Kelly around 10:00 a.m. (PST) Wednesday.

 

UPDATE 10: Chip Kelly's pres conference will be at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. His flight to Philly will arrive at around 7:30 p.m.

UPDATE 11: Jeff McLane says that Kelly never wanted full control and doubts that Howie Roseman was forced to give up any power.