About a year ago Howie Roseman fired Chip Kelly’s buddy (and Eagles VP of Player Personnel) Tom Gamble, and beat reporters proclaimed it another victory in his long streak of bureaucratic battles.
Just a couple of days later, Chip struck back. After meeting with his coach, owner Jeffrey Lurie kicked Howie upstairs with a raise and put him in charge of equipment and other miscellaneous concerns. The tune quickly changed:
But Lurie didn’t fire Howie, and Eagles watchers made a mental note to look for his comeback. Well, it’s here. If you don’t think Roseman was deeply involved in this firing, just look at the letter Lurie sent to season ticket owners (before he even told any players):
“…the search for a new coach will begin and will be led by myself, Don Smolenski and Howie Roseman.”
If that isn’t clear enough, the team fired Ed Marynowitz in the same breath. Marynowitz is a highly regarded young personnel executive, respected around the league, who worked at Alabama before the Eagles. He was Chip’s handpicked guy, who replaced Howie.
We won’t know for a while exactly what happened in that meeting with Chip that caused Lurie to fire him. One report from Jay Glazer says Chip doesn’t want personnel control at his next job; another says not giving it up led to his firing.
@prototyler has a theory that fits both and makes a lot of sense.
Maybe Chip’s reply was “Sure, put anyone in at GM except Howie. But I’m not working for Howie again.” If you’re watched the Eagles for any length of time, you know how that would go over.
20 Responses
And with the departure of Chip, we hope
To have seen the last of you, Salty and your lack of even an adolescent grasp of football.
Someone with Saltpeter’s qualifications should have no trouble finding a top-flight job in either the food service or housekeeping industries.
Howie back in control of personnel is a bigger problem than people realize. He is RAJ, nothing good about this . It’s great that Kelly is gone, Howie should have been shown the door too.
Dec 29, 2015, 8:23 PM EST
gotta love it!!!!! Filthadelphia fans wanted Chip, well they got him.
Here in KC we are going to the playoffs with Andy Reid !!!!
Filthadelphia fans can watch the Chiefs go on a Super Bowl run and wish they could get Andy back!
KARMA
Not very bright, are you?
…it was a survey course
I agree but don’t steal my handle
But so what? Who the fuck is Chip Kelly to have say over who picks players for him?
Roseman may not be a good GM, maybe even a subpar one, but Kelly’s personnel moves weren’t just bad, they were cataclysmically so. This team got crushed more often than it was competitive in the second half of the season. It got absolutely destroyed by the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Detroit Lions, and the Washington Redskins. Two of those games were at home.
And the Dolphins game: how does that look right now?
Kelly took another coach’s players and did very well with them, for a year. When he decided to get his own players, he utterly failed and set this team back several seasons in less than a year’s time. That equals: sorry, Chip, we’re taking back the GM duties from you, and don’t worry about who’s picking the players since they’ll be much, much better than you are at it.
Kelly let go of DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin.
He got Kiko Alonzo in return,
Bill Davis absolutely gave Kelly no chance!!! Kelly had his issues and made plenty of mistakes. I still am very happy that Jackson, McCoy are gone. As a 50 plus year fan I understand the move yet still do not fully understand why. I think it was over personnel and it looked like in that regard Chip was inexperienced. Still a very good coach and he will learn from this much like Pete Carroll, Bill B. , and a long list of former head coaches. He has to accept it, process it and then move forward. He is a brilliant offensive mind.
I think it was probably the other way around. The defense must have loved those 42 second possessions Chip’s hurry up and go 3 and out offense routinely had.
Kelly is way more Steve Spurrier than Pete Carroll.
The two best things to happen in Philadelphia sports this year: the firings of a man who tried to run his organization like it was 10 years ago and a man who thought he could reinvent his sport.
did you notice how far apart Mr and Mrs Lurie were in the owners box ? a good 5 ft lotsa room there.
Chip was horrible GM. What Lurie did yesterday was great but if he brings Howie back and makes him in charge of player personal then it basically puts us in the same situation. It amazes me how Howie gets Blame for his picks on others. Howie chose Brandon graham over earl Thomas nobody remembers Howie speaking how he went every week to watch him in Michigan. Remember all the reports saying teams did not like dealing with Howie. This showed itself to be true when chip decided he didn’t want desean it was Howie that couldn’t get anything for him. It was Howie who could not move up few spots to get Brandon cooks in that draft. Bringing Howie back delays everything. No coach like a Sean Payton will take a job with Howie as GM. It assures you get a first time coach. Howie can do cap, be Luries right hand man but He can not be allowed to be in charge of draft or free agency. No way.
If they bring Howie back in charge of personnel im more done with this team than i was with chip .. can it please be done right this time .. Hire a real GM not a mailroom guy and ..give full control and let them hire a coach? is this really too much to ask?
no coach worth his salt in this league is going to want to work under and take orders from a dweeb that never played a sport in his life. Howie as gm ensures that this team will not win for another 20 years
I assume this is Saltpepper’s last post? Kyle was a blond loyalist and a propaganda arm of the Chip Kelly regime (crazy thing is Kelly doesn’t even know Kyle or this blog exists) but Saltpepper wrote two friggin’ books about what a genius Chip Kelly is.
How are those books selling, Mark?
I will miss you trying to sell us that Sam Bradford is secretly a great QB though…
Somebody please respond. I hate hitting refresh and responding to myself all day.
Hey Kyle – I am obsessed with you.
Hi fake Steve, you are creeping me out.
Anybody? Somebody………please talk to me.
Kyle – remember when you said………..blah, blah,,,,,,,,,,,,,,blah……..repeat………….blah, blah…………
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