Eagles

Who Stays, Who Goes Post-Chip?

By Mark Saltveit

Published: Jan 5th, 2016 · 6:01 AM EST

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Now that Chip Kelly is gone, you can expect some of his boys to be out, too. But only Ed Marynowitz (who replaced Howie Roseman as Chip’s guy in personnel) has been fired so far, and no one has quit.

All of the position coaches and coordinators face replacement by the new coach, of course, but at a minimum Duce Staley is likely to stay (if he isn’t hired as coach or coordinator himself). Jeffrey Lurie would be trolling Eagles fans if he kept Billy Davis, but with Shurmur slated to interview for the head coach job, it wouldn’t be a shock if he stayed on as offensive coordinator.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp and defensive backs coach Cory Undlin have done well with their units and aren’t especially tied to Kelly. On the other hand, Chip’s close associates Jerry Azzinaro (asst. HC & DL) and Ryan Day (QB coach) should be packing their bags already. Whether Chip gets a new job or not, they’re gone.

It will be interesting to see if the team keeps the sports science unit Chip built. The Eagles have done well in avoiding games lost to injury, but the sleep detectors and urine tests seemed to irritate players a lot. [Editor’s note: This will be interesting to see if the Eagles essentially dial back the clock and remove many of the advancements – smoothies, heart rate monitors, player tracking system, etc. – but I can’t imagine the more invasive stuff – sleep monitors and pee samples – stays.]

Among players, Jason Kelce was a vocal supporter of Chip’s system and had trouble getting push even in it this year. But he predates Kelly and the team has so many holes on the offensive line that they’d be foolish to replace him.

Ex-Oregon players Josh Huff, Kiko Alonso, Brandon Bair and Taylor Hart are obvious targets, and none have made themselves indispensable on the field. Kenjon Barner was a reasonable third running back this year, comparable to Bryce Brown with fewer fumbles. Shurmur actually played him more in Week 17 than Chip generally did, which is a good sign for him.

Safety Walter Thurmond was the most successful ex-Duck this year, but he’s a free agent. When interviewed, he was kind of meh about returning, indicating that, sure, he’d love to, but doesn’t think the team has enough money for him. Good safeties are in short supply, so expect him to follow the money elsewhere.