The two biggest takeaways from Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference today – which I thought went about as well as it could for Lurie – were: 1) Lurie admitting that Chip essentially demanded control after last season, and 2) just how bad Lurie felt Chip was at dealing with people.

First, Lurie, almost directly contradicting the way he explained it in January, when Chip was handed full control – “there were no demands, no threats” – admitted that Chip “insisted” on having control. Lurie basically gave him the O-Town credo– All Or Nothing:

“I wanted to make Chip accountable for everything he wanted to have happen. One of the ways to make him accountable was to have him make those decisions, because that is what he insisted on decisively doing. So if you wanna make those decisions, be accountable for them, that’s the direction it took. There was a risk involved in allowing Chip to have that kind of say over player transactions, however, risk/reward. Sometimes the risks don’t work, and in this case, it didn’t work.”

Risk-reward is loosely translated to all or nothing at all. After a simple meeting, Chip was left with nothing at all.

Second, Lurie, describing what he wants in a new coach, with a thinly-veiled shot across Chip’s bow:

“Looking for somebody who interacts very well and communicates clearly with everyone he works with and comes in touch with. Understands the passion of our fans and what it’s like to coach the Philadelphia Eagles … you’ve gotta incorporate that in your life, in your heart, and you’ve gotta be willing to do that. And another thing is attention to detail … and lastly is, you’ve got to … umm … you gotta open your heart to players and everybody you want to achieve peak performance. And, uh, I would call it a style of leadership that values information, all the resources that are provided, and at the same time values emotional intelligence, and I think in today’s world … a combination of all those factors creates the best chance to succeed.”

For Eagles players, it was just like the wise band said, how can you fight someone who isn’t even there? Chip couldn’t be everything that was needed, despite having all the power. It’s obvious that the decision was brought on at least in part because of how terrible he was at dealing with people– both players and others in the NovaCare Complex. Now, there’s nowhere left to fall.


Side note: A friend of the family is very close to Ashley Parker Angel. That may indeed be my claim to fame.

Side note 2: As you can tell, I don’t sleep much these days.

Side note 3: Look at this image on the Eagles’ website– even Putin’s calendar was more understated in its reverence toward a leader:

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Waiting for an image of Lurie shirtless on the red carpet after the hiring press conference.