More on Chip and Culture
Posted: June 20th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 85 Comments »In the previous comments section, reader AC Viking brought up the question of how Chip Kelly could talk about “self governance” when Kelly is just like every other coach in the sense that he wants things done his way. Chip is in charge of the Eagles world and the players do what he wants.
This is a fair question to bring up.
There is no disputing that Kelly is going to do things his way. However, Kelly is more open-minded than most coaches. He seeks out different ways to do things. Kelly loves to understand how and why something works. He isn’t a believer in taking things for granted. Kelly is willing to listen to other coaches (college and pro), his assistants and even his own players. Kelly doesn’t see himself as the guru of all gurus. He’s smart enough to know when to borrow ideas from others.
While Kelly does have definitive ideas on what he wants, he’s not going to micro-manage his players. One of the reasons Kelly wants high character players is that he needs guys that are coachable and trustworthy. He doesn’t want to have to waste his time preaching over and over about “do this” or “do that”. Kelly wants players who will listen and take it upon themselves to do what is right. This is what he’s talking about with self-governance.
Would you rather work in an office where the boss asks you questions about your assignments every day or would you rather work in an office where your boss tells you what you need to do and then trusts you to get it done? All bosses are going to check on you a certain amount, but some can be stifling as they ask for updates and nag you for constant info. You feel like someone is always looking over your shoulder.
Trust is huge. People who are trusted tend to reward those they work for, assuming the person is of the high character variety. With the trust comes some responsibility. Some people like that and thrive in that environment.
Kelly isn’t an overbearing boss like some coaches. We think of Greg Schiano and the strange stories that came from Tampa. Tom Coughlin and his “be 5-minutes early” thing is very odd. Kelly wants players to come to Philly, figure out how things work and then embrace the culture. The players then push themselves and each other. The coaches can focus more on coaching and don’t have to nag players about every little detail.
This idea isn’t perfect and we don’t know exactly how it will work, but I like the fact that Kelly is trying the approach. Rather that using emotional gimmicks to motivate his players, Kelly is trying to appeal to them logically. Here’s what we do. Here is why we do it. These are the tangible benefits of our systems. You can have personal success. We can have team success.
That is sustainable. Ray Rhodes and his “Pretend a man is holding a gun to your wife’s head” speeches could only get players so far. At some point, emotion isn’t enough. That’s too inconsistent.
What Kelly is doing seems to be an extension of Bill Walsh’s coaching style. Appeal to smart people by being honest and logical with them. Kelly just takes it the extra step with his willingness to explain why everything is done a certain way, as well as his willingness to make changes if he sees a better way to do something.
The NovaCare is Chip Kelly’s world, but the players do have a lot of freedom within it.
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The practice notes from Thursday weren’t as compelling as the other days. Here are the key links.
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I think the goal is basically to have a reign of rightness, not a reign of one man’s personality or preferences. Kelly’s goal is to be the instrument of truth. Is it best to go fast? We’re doing that. Is it best to use every inch of the field as an offense? We’re doing that. Is it best to 2 gap? We’re doing that. You have a better idea? If you really do, we’re doing that.
Interesting how tempo has completely taken over the NFL…in the last week, I have seen multiple new teams publically announce their new found commitment to tempo offense…Steelers announced they are going full blown Tempo(after tinkering with it the past few years), Miami and Lazor are going Tempo…Browns Pettine announced that tempo offense “like the patriots” is the new Browns way”..
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In two years a huddle will be like a Bigfoot siting
Awesome. If you don’t have a RB that’s way more 3 and outs. Can the Steeler’s 45 yo defense deal with the number of snaps they’ll need to play? I’d just pound their D with power football in 3/4 quarter — like body blows in a fight.
All these teams using Tempo, aren’t training for it the way we do…
I still think it’s very still very much Kelly’s way or the highway. He won’t reem you out or make you run laps or what have you. He’ll get what he can out of you, then drop you. You will do as he says. Bare minimum, you will give blind obedience. He strives for you to understand why you’re doing everything, so maybe you wouldn’t it if it wasn’t required, but you get it, this is informed acquiescence. Self-governance, you fully buy into his way. You believe his way is the best for you and the team, you’re all in, and go above and beyond what’s required. Make no mistake, if you don’t self-govern the Kelly way, you will find yourself unsanctimoniously released for nothing even after a career year.
Sure he’s an open-minded guy. If you think you have a better way, he’ll listen.
Yup…let’s not pretend Chip hasn’t dropped the hammer…he did it to Desean, he cost shady a 6 figure bonus for attendance issues, he removed the player locker room fine system which guys like Barwin liked and thought were great for team bonding and accountability(reaction to bullygate)…. He dropped the hammer when he needed to, while also selling himself to the players as someone who will ask them to work, but will provide them with the blueprint for team and individual success while treating them fairly and striving to make them into better players and men….a year later since Chip took over the 4-12 bad news eagles who’s locker room had gone to shit. We just enjoyed perfect attendance from 90 men at non mandatory OTAs, while other teams having to deal with contract hold outs…
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Funny how all our players were excited to work yesterday, and all the skins players were excited about Gruden giving them a day off, as if the next 35 vacation days before camp weren’t enough….skins sissies needed 36 day vacation…while our boys were grinding in the heat and loving it
Exactly, Chip is absolutely amazing, gotta love him. He isn’t running some hipster co-op out there, he just makes you want to do the right thing, and if your don’t, you won’t last long. No fuss, no muss. Drop the hammer, and smiled abound, good stuff.
If you ask out coaches and players, they can’t wait til this 35 day vacation ends so they can get into the grinding training camp under insane heat lol…
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I don’t know when, but I would bet anything Chip will sooner or later whip us into an elite team…
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I’m blown away by how it’s 365 days later, and how drastically more difficult it will be to make this teams roster than it was last year….how difficult will it be to make our roster two years from now?
If our D makes a nice step up we could be elite this year. Statistically they were like bottom 10, but eye test wise, I’d say they were middle of the pack in the second half of the season. Just imagine if they became pretty good, like top 10. Getting off the field on 3rd down more often. Getting the ball back to that offense faster. Stressing the other team’s D further. Oh it can get brutal fast. There’s a definite buzz around this team. Take us to the promised land Billy D.
Have no fear…Cool ass Billy Dee will “ROGER THAT!”
Billy should have been the NFL coach of the year last season…this defense is going to flat out shock people this year…just wait to see what a difference it makes when players don’t have to learn the scheme and can focus on the little nuances of their game….continuity is huge. Defense is ready to fly brother,,,it’s one thing to be expecting improvements our of like one or two players…but we have a bunch of hungry dogs who I expect to be better then they were last year
Good points. What’s the Shady 6-figure bonus story?
Uhh it was when Chip was first hired last offseason, shady did something stupid, like an attendance issue or something like that and Chip cost him an offseason or roster bonus(one of those bonus’s) for 100K…. It was right around the time Desean went to talk to Chip about why he was running with the 3rd string(last year somewhere between March and May it happened)
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Hopefully someone posts the specifics for you…..but the gists of it was right when Chip was hired, shady did something small, and Chip cost him a 100k bonus…shady publically took the punishment well, and I don’t think shady and Chip have had a problem since
No comments on Matt Barkley’s alleged calling out of Jimmy on reddit, Tommy? If it happens you do know you have to be there to film it all and hold it over Jimmy’s head forever, right?
The Rex vs. Petine vs. Belleicek jerry Springer Drama is a fun discussions lol
It really does need to be documented for posterity if it ever does happen.
Their accounts are both “verified” so it looks legit. http://www.reddit.com/r/eagles/comments/28k0kw/barkleys_arm_strength_a_concern
The Tenacious D parody in the reply thread is legit.
Seems silly to me for an NFL QB to get into this. What is the upside? I don’t see any. The downside is it’s a distraction.
I’m all over the place on this one. Partly amused, partly glad to see Barkley show some fire, partly worried that this off season really is getting the better of Barkley and he’s cracking. A quick review of his offseason: Mike Vick leaves, Barkley is #2, yaaay. 1 snap away from being a starter. Eagles show little confidence in him and bring in Mark Sanchez…but to compete right? Eagles go ahead and give Sanchez the vast majority of the second team reps, barkley shares time with Kinne. Lastly very few people have seen him this year, and a
Good post…
As a player, Barley should know where exactly he is as an NFL QB. Barkley was never a #2 and shouldn’t have assumed that just because Vick left. Did he really expect the Eagles to be dumb enough not to have a quality(somewhat)/experienced QB coming to camp? Shame on him for 1 thinking that and 2 thinking the Eagles would find some scrub to be #3. Be the end of camp maybe Barkley can improve to be number 2. Maybe. Ok, 1 more point — does Chip just hand out positions to anyone? Barkley should know he has to earn it.
The saddest part about Barkley, is if had come out in the draft a year earlier, he would have been drafter in the 1st round (reportedly). Somebody would be regretting that now!
I was all about giving him more time than last year, but the reports so far in camp is that he still doesn’t seem to know/understand the offense and his throws are very erratic. He should have that playbook down by now and be making those easy throws in practice!
I guess I am in the minority, by still being intrigued with Barkley. I really think if he had gone to a more traditional offense his transition would of been quicker. Not to mention if he were drafted higher he would be seeing a ton more snaps and coaching.
I know the results were not great last season, but he looked like he was someone who could be very good, from my seat.
no I am still intrigued too. I want him to be the # 2. My comment is just that why pick a fight with Kempski. what are you going to do, throw a ball hard at a reporter. What does that prove? I’m not saying I want a harder test, either, I think he just needs to ignore the chatter.
Agree.
That’s tough. 1st round BUST with a high salary or 4th round bust w/ low salary? If we came out with Luck and them he’d be getting killed in the media bc he can’t really see anyone in that class as far as QBing is going.
I don’t know about that. I think any QB who doesn’t think he should really be a 1 probably doesn’t last long in the NFL. I mean look what happened when Sorgi finally played in a real game.
I agree that Barkley’s ambitions and expectations for himself have at times come off as entitlement. I do think falling short of his expectations is starting to get to him. And to be fair, Kelly did give the newcomer the higher starting place on the depth chart over the incumbent, even as Sanchez floundered like a fish out of water, he maintained his place with the 2’s. Now take the utilitarian view, Sanches really needed the extra reps with the 2’s at the expense of Barkley sharing reps with Kinne, to catch up. I believe Kelly when he says nothing is decided until the preseason.
Barkley started all 8 years in HS and college, so it’s an adjustment for him coming off the bench.
Say what you will about Sanchez, but he won a lot of games — including playoffs — with much less support than he has here. He has shown he can win in the NFL,
Barkley has yet to. MB hasn’t had much chance to, granted, but Sanchez coming in as #2 makes perfect sense.
Is it worse that I don’t use my twitter, or that I am not even registered with reddit? I know people who have sworn by it for years, but it really seems to be picking up steam.
Reddit’s really niche to the millenials. It’s sort of just throw any idea up (lots of memes, photos (usually with captions), the occasional story, and really whatever), if people like it, it gets upvotes and ends up higher on a list. So the front page is the day’s most upvoted idea’s or whatever. Now it can be a whole lot of nonsense if you aren’t part of the demographic that does the upvoting. However it is definitely worth checking out the AMA’s and sub reddits.
Being a millenial I might enjoy it! Never realized the whole upvote ranking system. The site will make much more sense the next time I decided to wander over there.
Me too! But I’m on the older extreme of it. At first it’s addicting, eventually you get fatigued like, that joke/meme has been beaten to death already, stop! *downvote*. It does help you keep a finger on the pulse of internet culture though, for sure.
Next time I am bored I am gonna check it out –btw– best time kill I have found, and I am always shocked to find tons of people don’t know about it — StumbleUpon–.
I’ll have to check that out
stumbleupon was the reason I didn’t sleep my sophomore year of college. no regrets. I cried the day I lost the hard drive with many of those bookmarks.
I’m too busy watching Matlock
Matlock is a big damn deal here in Wilmington NC http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MNDZuKrx-5s/S_feIgVVu3I/AAAAAAAAAdc/FD2Z4ijdTqA/s1600/wilmington+nc+-+federal+court.jpg
Bwahhh haaahaha!…
Eagles’ subreddit is pretty good. And I’m 52. Reddit can be VERY different depending where you hang out.
Also, Evan Mathis hangs out.
I think this is great. If Barkley’s willing to demonstrate that his arm strength is okay, then, fantastic. Let’s come up with a test distance, time the speed of his release/throw, and we can all rest easier. We can blindfold Kempski at the other end and tell Barkley it’s target practice if it’ll make him throw harder…
Here’s the thing…Chip is done doing the majority of the explaining, ATleast until he adds a new concept or training method…Chip talked about taking the time to educate the core of this team on the WHYs last year, and this year the players are doing the explaining the WHY to the rookies and free agents…
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Lol what do people think of the AFC Jerry springer Drama? Bellicek vs, Rex,vs. Pettine? Tripple threat death match at wrestlemania?
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Let me get this straight, the coach of the Browns says that Bellicek has multiple copies of Rex Ryan’s playbook lol stating that Rex gives his Playbooks away to people like Saban, who he accuses of taking Rex’s playbook and giving it to his friend Bellicek? Lol I’m sooooo going to enjoy a quiet drama free summer in philly
“All bosses are going to check on you a certain amount, but some can be
stifling as they ask for updates and nag you for constant info. You feel
like someone is always looking over your shoulder.”
I think Kelly is a great coach and I’m excited about the future of the Eagles but I tend to think of his program as precisely the opposite of what is implied in this post. Don’t the players wear sleep monitors? I seem to recall that the team is constantly tracking all sorts of data points about each player. That sounds more like a culture of surveillance than self-governance.
Yes, but the point is that Chip doesn’t just say this is the way it is, so just do it, without explaining the how and why it’s conducive to helping them succeed. The monitors are not really for spying but more for data collection for analysis to then share the effectiveness with the players. If you can’t physically prove the effectiveness of your methods, then you can’t expect buy in. Another important point. Sharing data results, without explaining why and how the data was collected can also breed skepticism.
For example, non-religious people such as myself don’t buy into preachers that try to convert mainly for one big reason, you have no proof that there is a higher power. Chip on the other hand says, ok this is going to work and here is the proof as to why and this is how we’re going to do it. He’s not a door to door salesman saying buy into my product because it works with a smile. He’s saying buy into my product because this is why and how it works and shows you so that you can see it and experience it for yourself first hand. But where Chip is also smart, he chooses people that are smart enough to know the difference.
The sleep monitor is not so that Chip can track what time you go to bed. It’s to check how well you’re sleeping and recovering — a key phrase — from your training. it’s more about avoiding sleep apnea and bad sleep rhythms, maximizing the rest you get per hour of sleep.
Perhaps I’m missing the bigger part of the story about Tom Coughlin’s “be 5 minutes early” thing. That doesn’t seem odd to me at all, and I say this as a person who is consistently 5 minutes late.
He would punish players for being late because they weren’t 5 minutes early. That’s just stupid.
This will be Coughlins 4-12 Andy Reid season….his face on the sideline during 12 of this seasons games will be a thing of beauty lol
Turn you head and Coughlin…. huh, huh. Anyone?
I think you are absolutely right. His last year in NY.
Same exact situation to Andy…kept him two years long, instead of rebuilding, they “retooled” with their little welfare version of the Dream team, or should I say “Nap-team”… Think it will all blow up in Coughlins face and this will be his last year…
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Basically I don’t think the giants can be good until they turn the page on this coach and QB, and transition there next era,,,they will give us Another year head start lol
Keep your eye on heads rolling in Dallas, too. If the Eagles stay focused and healthy, we could be seeing a repeat of our dominance of the Division.
Lol..you mean the GENIUS’S that have a head coach, offensive coordinator, passing game coordinator, run game coordinator and a QB who has been known to choke, and who will never again stay healthy enough to play all 16 games….
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I seriously can’t even figure out which of our rivals is the most incompetent ….. Most people would say the giants are our best competition this year, but while they aren’t as screwed up as the other two franchises, I’m really expecting the Giants to implode and have a horrible season …. Thankfully they won those fools gold games at the end of the season, costing them the chance to add a serious talent like Greg Robinson, Jake Mathews, Barr or Aaron Donald…..funny to see them end up with the top pic and draft Marriotta
There once was a coach even more obsessed with early promptness than Coughlin.
The players and team employees called it “Lombardi” time, which required being 10-15 early to whatever was on your schedule.
I think it was star HB and HOFer Paul Hornung who made it to spot where the team plane (or bus) was supposed to be by departure time. But the place was empty. And he had to pay a taxi a couple hundred dollars to get to Chicago, I think.
The point of Lombardi time, so it goes, was to teach his players the importance of preparation and effort. Seems to have worked, all in all.
This has never worked with me. I just adjust my thinking so that the 5 minutes earlier is my new “on time”, rather than early. So if the boss were to tell me to be somewhere at 9:00am, but I had to be 5 minutes early, the actual on-time is 8:55.
Come to think of it, does that kind of stupidity work on anyone? “Early” means before they need to be there, if they need to be there 5 minutes “early” its not really early at all anymore is it?
In a way Chip is the “Tenth Man”
An example of him listening to his players is when Sconces told him to pass the ball down field during the snow bowl.
The best leader will follow from time to time.
This just in from the Eagles Insider Podcast: Vinny Curry’s favorite junk food is Funyuns
Did you laugh your ass off at the end when he started to talk about Alejandro Villanueva?
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Vinny says he will be playing at 283-285 this year…last year he played at 282lbs but he put the weight on the wrong way trying to transition to a two gapping end..says that last year he just tried to eat as much of anything as he possibly could….since eliminating red meat, gluten and dairy from his diet, he says he dropped a bunch of pants sizes(waist sizes) but still weighs the 282lbs he got up to last week…which now means that he is up to 282lbs of “Healthy weight”….
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For Vinny to put on weight the wrong way last summer, basically adding fat(he said he wore the same size jeans as Cox who is much much bigger than he is) it’s amazing how explosive he still looked in games last year…..It’s going to be really exciting to see him play at 285lbs of muscle this year…can’t imagine how much more explosive he looks…
I think something former United States Attorney General John Mitchell once said to the media about the “Nixon Way of Governing” applies with equal force to Chip Kelly:
“Watch what we do; not what we say.”
I can’t remember what I just ate for lunch. How do you do this?
You had to be there, unfortunately.
My guesses:
1. He’s from another planet
2. There was a terrible accident
3. A spider bit him
4. His parents were killed outside the opera
5. He suffered a chest injury while kidnapped
6. He is a super soldier created to defeat the Nazi’s.
7. He was a theorehtical physicist who suffered a gamma radiation exposure.
As I began reading your post I thought a list of guesses of what he ate for lunch was going to proceed.
I always thought of him as Godzilla. Old but awesome.
I’m having a hard time figuring out #s 2 & 5…
Oh wait, just figured out #5. That leaves #2?
Fantastic 4.
That’s what I kinda was thinking. The first thing that came to mind was The Thing.
Great post.
I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. – Nixon
that is brilliant.
slippery as a pocket of pudding
A pocket full of pudding and too short of a straw while in a location where removing your pants is not an option sounds like a definition of torture.
I don’t think that Chip is indicating that “self-governance” means the same as a socialist or even democratic state, or even that the players get to decide on the core rules. Here are the LRN definitions of the 3 models he mentions:
Blind Obedience – These organizations are “characterized by command and control, top-down leadership,” “short-term objectives,” and “little focus on building enduring relationships in the workplace, marketplace, or society.”
Informed Acquiescence – These organizations “reflect 20th century management practices like hierarchy, structure and control processes.” Managers rely on performance-based incentives, and long-term goals, while important, are often subordinated to short-term pressures.
Self-Governance – These organizations are driven by “a set of core principles and values that inspires everyone to align around a company’s mission.” “Employees at all levels strive to be leaders, and the company is focused on its long-term legacy and endurance.”
We already know he doesn’t believe in Blind Obedience, since from the very beginning he has stressed the importance of explaining things and not just commanding players to do it his way. He probably likes the “informed” part of Informed Acquiescence, but wants a longer term view and wants more buy in from the team rather than just submitting.
I think his hope (note that he says they are working toward the model, not there yet) is that by explaining and demonstrating the value of the core principles the players will buy in on their own and take the values as their own (rather than trying to forrce their current values on Chip or the team). He wants everyone to be affirmatively working together to achieve these principles. So i do think that players who he doesnt see as likely to or being capable of adopting these principles may not last long (DeSean!) or be brought in in the first place. Certainly the players they have drafted have shown evidence of being leaders and of valuing investing in the long term.
So I think maybe some have just looked at the words “self-governance” and misunderstood a bit about what he really meant.
Can’t up vote enough! So many organizations say that they are Self-Governance but show their true colors quickly as soon as the greed of stockholders comes into play. They then soon become the organization that is consistently chasing it’s own tail and fall in between Blind Obedience & Informed Acquiescence.
Keep in mind, the entire Eagles organization is now operating within these philosophical parameters. The reporting structure between Lurie, the FO, and the HC mirrors the growth towards self-governance – same with the coaching staff structure and function; how many mentions have been made about the collaboration between coaches in building the play books and developing game plans – this area is likely much further along the path of self-governance than the coaches to players relationships.
how are we going to kill time until training camp opens?
Yea, I’ve been working and spending time with my family. Just wasting time until the important stuff starts.
Bath salts. We all cope in our own way.
World Cup. NBA draft, Personally I want to finish re watching last years eagles season before this season starts.
Vacation, 8 man flag season for a few more weeks, kickball till mid July, and lots of golf
I don’t think the two things are mutually exclusive. Chip wants things done his way, but he wants them done that way because the players bought into his method believe in the system and chose to do it his way on their own. That’s why he’s so big on explaining the way and telling players how is methods benefit them. He wants them to understand and chose his methods on their own.
Really awesome to see us get thru this phase without anyone going down with injuries….it’s not to be taken for granted when you see how many teams already lost key players and they haven’t even went thru the contact portion of the offseason yet… This is such a physical game, injuries are so difficult to avoid,that you can’t be also losing players to league imposed suspensions whether it’s for an arrest like Ray Rice or for getting caught using performance enhancers.
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Injuries are such a major part of how a season unfolds, and it’s usually inevitable that someone important will go down at some point. Dealing with injuries is tough enough. You can’t also be losing players for making stupid decisions off the field. Which is why I really appreciate the emphasis Chip has put on Character when it comes to adding new players….sometime you just.cant avoid an injury, no matter how well you train or how careful you train..but you can always control NOT getting arrested or NOT putting banned substances in your body..
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Seems like we won’t be dealing with too many suspensions in the future, if Chip can keep us one of the healthiest teams in the league it would be a major advantage for us….if we are fortunate enough to not lose any players to injury in camp and the preseason and go into the season healthy, I will be so damn jacked up, or should I say….Jacced up
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Great to hear that our drunken idiot kicker has been looking good this past week or so…”simple assault leg” missed 3 straight FGs yesterday..
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I also keep hearing very good things about how healthy and well Rejus Benn is looking. I really feel for that kid and all the hard work and mental strength it takes to keep coming back from these major injuries. The man has put in, a lot of work and I really hope he gets to enjoy ATleast this one season of good health…if we can get a healthy season out of him, it would be a big unexpected boost to our offense…really rooting for the kid.
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Word is Momah has made some big improvements and that he has a chance of making our practice squad this year
Man, I was just thinking about how lucky we were to get Chip as a HC.
You can’t give Howie and Jeff enough praise for that one decision.
Hiring Chip Kelly may go down in history as one of the best hires the Eagles ever made.
Just looking at all of our new players, there isn’t one that I would say has no chance. Not even GJ.
Our 4th QB could be a #2 for many teams and maybe even a starter if he was in Oakland.
I think our defense will make a huge jump this season for so many reasons.
They were all getting better towards the end of last season and the few that didn’t are gone.
With the additions of Smith II, Villanueva, Jenkins, Carroll and Watkins, I feel we have upgraded our secondary and improved our depth ten fold.
If our defense can come anywhere near the level our offense has been playing at, then getting 10+ wins is almost a lock.
[…] More on Chip and Culture – Tommy Lawlor, Iggles BlitzThere is no disputing that Kelly is going to do things his way. However, Kelly is more open-minded than most coaches. He seeks out different ways to do things. Kelly loves to understand how and why something works. He isn’t a believer in taking things for granted. Kelly is willing to listen to other coaches (college and pro), his assistants and even his own players. Kelly doesn’t see himself as the guru of all gurus. He’s smart enough to know when to borrow ideas from others. […]