The Right Kind of Culture
Posted: October 20th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 149 Comments »I remember being very impressed with Andy Reid when he mentioned building a program back in 1999. The Eagles had just come off the Ray Rhodes era where long term vision meant knowing the plan for next month. Reid was the first NFL coach I ever heard mention the word program. That’s a word we normally associate with college football. In college, you have to build a program. Kids can only stay for 4 years and the great ones are often gone in 3. You can only sustain success if you build depth and think long term. Rhodes focused on stars and thought very short term. Reid’s ideas worked well and he did build one heck of a program.
Now Chip Kelly is taking that one step further. Beyond just building a program, Kelly wants the right culture.
Dynasties get built around great players. Tom Brady in New England. The Triplets in Dallas. Joe Montana and then Steve Young in SF. But what if you don’t get the elite QB or Hall of Fame talent? Can you still have something special?
It feels like Kelly is trying to build a program that can thrive with or without great talent. One of the keys is finding selfless players that will do whatever it takes to win. I’m sure James Casey is frustrated with his lack of touches on offense. He didn’t come here to be Antonio Gates, but probably expected to be more than just a role player. Casey still blocks his butt off when he gets on the field. He plays hard on STs. Casey does what is asked of him and he does it well.
Casey is a perfect fit for Kelly’s culture. DeSean Jackson wasn’t.
You got a big glimpse into Jackson’s personality and mindset back in 2011. He wasn’t getting paid like he wanted and that affected his play and behavior in the locker room. Jackson was better under Kelly, but obviously showed enough of himself that Kelly didn’t want to keep him around. Some people saw the move as insanity. You can’t get rid of your best WR. Kelly likely saw just the opposite. You can’t keep that guy around. You’d be sending a terrible message to the other players. If you’re talented enough, you can do what you want.
Jimmy Johnson built the Cowboys into a dynasty by letting his star players do what they wanted. That team won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. As amazing as that feat is, it is almost as amazing how quickly that dynasty fell apart. Injuries forced TE Jay Novacek to retire after the 1995 season, the final SB win. Without him, the team won just one playoff game. That dynasty was so fragile that taking out one key player (and not even one of the Triplets) ripped it apart.
Kelly is fascinated by the military and how they operate. There is a culture of sacrifice. You do what is best for the group. You think about others. If you can get a talented football team to buy into that mindset, you could have something special. Soldiers are individually tough and skilled, but when they work together, they can do amazing things. This isn’t a case where being part of a group takes away the individual desire for excellence. There is a pressure to keep up with the rest of the group so that you don’t let them down. Being a good part of the group makes you better as an individual.
You can bet that Matt Tobin feels pressure playing next to Jason Peters. Tobin knows the guy to his left is an elite player that will get the job done. That makes Tobin want to play well so that the coaches can count on the left side of the line. If Tobin was playing beside Demetress Bell, Tobin would probably have a different mindset. “Don’t suck as much as that guy.”
Think about what Kelly wants on defense. He asks his defensive linemen to 2-gap. That has them reading plays and eating up blocks. You know Fletcher Cox would rather be firing off the ball and blowing up plays in the backfield. That’s so much more fun. But Kelly wants his DL to sacrifice themselves by 2-gapping. That sets up the LBs to make plays. It also puts pressure on the offense. They would rather have players going to designated gaps. It makes blocking easier. When one defender can cover 2 gaps, it is trickier to get him blocked. The DL do get a reward. If they force the offense into 3rd/long, the DL can pin their ears back and go get after the QB. It isn’t all 2-gap.
Kelly isn’t some Utopian nut-job. He understands football players aren’t perfect. He also understands that some talented players are going to be difficult to deal with at times. You can tell that Kelly and LeSean McCoy don’t always see eye to eye, but McCoy must do enough of what Kelly wants that they make it work. Cary Williams is a handful to deal with. He and Kelly are able to make it work. Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham had a real hard time adjusting to the 3-4 and new roles last year. Kelly knew they were talented so he kept them around and gave them a chance to adjust to the situation. Curry became a key role player last year and Graham has become one this year. I don’t know if those players will choose to stay here in the future, but they have each found a way to be effective in the base defense and very good in roles as designated pass rushers.
Bill Belichick established a culture in New England. It was funny last year to hear WesWelker admit that he still sometimes found himself not doing or saying certain things for fear of having to answer to Bill despite the fact he was no longer in New England. Once a Patriot, always a Patriot I guess. Kelly is obviously a different kind of coach than Belichick, but I do think Kelly admires the way things are done in NE. That organization is lucky enough to have a great QB, but they haven’t always surrounded him with great talent. The team continually wins. I think one big difference in Kelly and Belichick is that Bill covets raw talent more than Kelly does. He has drafted some players with questionable backgrounds. Call that the LT effect. Belichick had a love-hate relationship with Lawrence Taylor, but in the end he saw the impact that an elite talent could have.
Chip also has much better press conferences.
Kelly is trying to build something in Philadelphia. Time will tell just how successful he is. He’s off to a good start, having gone 15-7 so far. The big questions remain. Can these ideas win a Super Bowl? Can these ideas sustain success?
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This is hard to believe
Yeah, and that sack rate isn’t misleading either. Last week the were 30th in % of snaps where they pressured the QB, so it isn’t a matter of getting pressure but not getting there.
SB hang over. Happens a lot in the nfl….
Funny thing is that they looked great in the opening against the Packers. But all of a sudden…is it fair to say the only truly elite team right now is the Broncos? Maybe the Chargers? I’m leaving the Eagles off that list for now mostly because I would have to add Dallas if I didn’t…and I refuse to do that.
Denver is the only team I really wouldn’t want to see us play right now….everyone else looks very beatable to me
Packer’s looks deadly too
i thought that was something that usually hit the SB loser more than the SB winner…?
When you win the SB (or lose) opposing teams have a funny way of playing their best football against you.
Should we break out the trick special team plays this week boss? Yes, it’s the friggin Seahawks, we need every trick in the book!
Missing the two DL in jxnville?
Murders row of QBs?
How about that third stringer on the rams, Austin Davis, he is playing out of his mind?
“If Tobin was playing next to Demetress Bell”……… WOOF
I am now finally officially OVER letting desean go.
..
and besides –>
YOU CANT BEND A GUY BACKWARDS! throw a flag on that sheet! DO YOU WHO THIS GUY IS?! HE’s IMPORTANT!
This seems to be a good book about Chip although I didn’t get it yet. It’s called the “Tao Of Chip Kelly” by Mark Saltviet, Although it’s not all based on Chip’s Eagles experience, I’m sure because he’s new to the team,but the author gave a good little tidbit about an interaction with a player during an Eagles game, I can’t quote word for word so it basically goes:
He said Chip doesn’t think he’s over his guys, he knows what he wants, gameplan..ok blah blah…During the Detroit snow game last year Carey Williams went up to Kelly and said that no one can make cuts out there why don’t you just start doing straight bombs down the field? Or something along the lines of forget about cuts, no more cutting for the receivers, it’s impossible out there. He gave advice for the offense that Chip used and went on to score a lot of points if you remember, 28 in the 4th? Anyways pretty cool story, he took advice from his defender, didn’t blow him off. Heard the author on the radio the other day, a lot of other good stuff, sounds like a good read.
Before someone calls you out for being new here, Mark writes guest posts on this blog all the time.
Here Tommy, took a video for you and put your blog link in the description. I didn’t make it, but I stole it. Since I have an unverified youtube account, I have two, but can’t use the verified because of copyright issues you can’t click on the link. Youtube is getting so anal. But if people know how to read and type they can find your site. Wish I could dedicate it to you, but I stole it for you at least 🙂
Highlights from the shutout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePbV04VGPUM
Very cool.
I have said it before – I was not a fan of the Kelly signing when it happened. I was so wrong. He even seems like a decent guy (not Bill B) – got some press from Victor Cruz last week because he went and visited him in the hospital on Monday morning.
I am such a fan of the Eagles HC – I can’t help but feel it’s going to end up in utter disappointment.
your glass doesn’t have to be half empty… Just remember to not get caught up in “today”. Chip is building and it’s a continual process. Win or lose this year, Chip isn’t done…
This team is at the least a legitimate Super Bowl contender this year, especially with Seatle looking imminently beatable and unlikely to secure home field advantage this year. And to think that this is basically the same team minus a DB overhaul that went 4-12 a year and a half ago, is nothing short of amazing. With no big free agent signings and only a few spot additions, that is incredible. Next year, there’s no one that we’ll be forced to cut, we’ll have the cap flexibility to sign up all our young studs long term and add an impact free agent or two if they become available and this team looks like it’s set up to be the class of the NFC for the next 4-5 years. Love what Chip is building here!!
In 2012, the Eagles were a 4-12 *coached* team with lots of injuries.
But not a 4-12 talent-level team, especially on offense.
The Eagles needed a coaching change. Probably a year or two earlier.
Good point. I don’t think any coach could have done what Chip has done. New coaches all around, new schemes in all phases of the game.
Talent on defense was for a 4-3 and to switch to a 3-4 with while keeping most of the players and win the division is quite an accomplishment.
Totally worth the wait.
No doubt about it. I completely agree with you. I just think that that proves how much a difference coaching can make when essentially the same team with a different top down culture and system can look so radically different.
It’s been said, but not agreed upon by most, that Jenkins WAS a big free agent signing. I guess people still don’t see it as one…
BIGTIME signing..
Huge in impact! He’s the best FA safety signing of last offseason in the whole league. I love the Jenkins signing. But, he wasn’t a big splash or even big money FA signing and until playing here was thought of as a disappointment. Hardly the type of FA signing that you would expect beforehand to help turn a franchise around. My point was that it’s one thing to watch a team bring in Peyton Manning, draft Demarius Thomas, find a Julius Thomas, sign Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, Demarcus Ware and TJ Ward and start playing like a totally different team. It’s another thing entirely to sign Cary Williams, Bradley Fetcher and Malcom Jenkins while releasing DeSean and trading for Sproles but otherwise be the same exact team and go from 4-12 to Super Bowl contender.
I wasn’t either. I’m glad to be wrong. I’m a huge fan of his now and really believe this is going to end with multiple superbowls. Maybe not this year, but he’s a winner.
I dunno, but as soon as I saw that clip of Kelly saying “culture beats scheme every time” to a guy who had been on the practice squad less than a week, I knew that Chip was directly addressing the desean release. He knew he was wearing a mic, it was probably.something he wanted so.badly to say at the time Jaccpot was released but couldn’t. Chip is a very smart guy and used the “wired up” moment to air his thoughts. I may be off base in this, but I just know that everything Chip does has a reason. I don’t think he was simply chatting up Jordan Kovacs pre game.
Especially as Chip barely let Kovacs get out a word before he kept talking. Although Kovacs was basically just saying “yes sir” anyway.
Does Chip Kelly seem like the kind of guy who would use a “Wired Up” segment to cryptically air his grievances with a former player? The guy is no-bullshit, and if he wanted people to know, he’d have answered the question one of the 3 billion times he was asked it after the release. Give the man some credit.
I don’t think he was attempting to cryptically air grievances at all. Back in the winter when Desean was released I think that if he had said “desean was bad for our culture, good for our scheme” people would have gone nuts. Instead, he said it was for football related reasons. I think that Chip used the chance to reinforce his mantra. The guy is a straight shooter – as far as head coaches go. But he has to stand up at the podium and give PC lines that don’t send ripples in the media. The “wired up” chance gave him an impromptu chance. Either that, or he and Jordan Kovacs suddenly are super tight.
Yup, the whole thing came off as very calculated.
Thinking about that Blitzkrieg read the other day was so cool with Tommy talking about Chip and the military. Kelly came in here, didn’t tear things up like most coaches would, that’s what Andy did in KC, by the way. they are coming around, good for him. Anyways, Chip just made them adapt. The system when compared in a way to the blitzkrieg, that was awesome man. Someone didn’t drink their smoothies, block or get proper sleep, that’s all there is to it.
Is it wrong though? What I mean is the thing about praising a Nazi thing. Well good thing dum-dum screwed that whole war up by backstabbing his supposed 10 year partner. They went out of the Russia the way that Detroit went out of here last year. Well not really, the Lions didn’t freeze to death. Thanks for your stupidity H-word.
Isn’t it great comparing football to war? But not really, cause the real heroes are out there fighting for our freedom, we’re just talking about a game being played by millionaires for billionaires.
The Simpsons: Kamp Krusty
Last day of school kids running like hell out of the school are stopped by their teacher.
Hold on! [Kids stop in their tracks]You didn’t learn how World War II ended!” [The class waits expectantly.] Teacher: “We won!” Class: [running out of the building, cheering] “Yay! U-S-A! U-S-A!
You’re way off on the Chiefs.
Yeah, Andy was smart enough to recognize that he had talent in place on the defensive side of the ball. Most of his overhaul was centered on the quarterback and the scheme – his two strengths.
Attempting to put in a link so bear with me …
I was watching the Cinci game and saw this play. I had to re-watch it a few times in amazement. I wonder how an nfl player can face his team mates during film review(if there’s such a thing) after a play like this….
http://nesn.com/2014/10/bengals-terence-newman-wants-nothing-to-do-with-tackling-ball-carrier-video/
I can happily say I haven’t seen an eagle do that since Kelly took over.
And the bad angles and poor arm tackling has been diminished too.
Love to see an article about the tackling, seems much better, giants game was awesome.
easily, he had a press conference blasting his team for not playing well.
The DRC school of thought.
I would imagine saying “DJ didn’t fit” is just throwing sugar on that situation. We’ll never know what happened. Can we all agree Chip is a smart, smart man? If so, couldn’t we then say that Chip did all he can to get DJ to be a team player? I would imagine it was a series of events. I’ll always be a DJ fan and wish him well. We’ve argued above this move forever and it always ended up that time will tell. I think we’re far enough removed to say that Chip made a good decision. People can keep posting stats about DJ but that doesn’t mean squat and has a 0 impact on the Eagles. Hopefully soon, we can stop bringing up DJ. That era is over.
FWIW, watched the Eagles-Skins game next to a Redskins fan here in AZ who was apparently good friends with Desean. Her exact words, “everyone was shocked. He wanted to be there” (in Philly).
If he really did want to be here, the logical step would be to align himself with Kelly. Since he didn’t, perhaps he doesn’t have a good sense of what’s going on/how people are feeling around him.
*I should note, she was really a Desean fan – she rooted Eagles till he switched team.
That’s really..too bad…
for her.
Haha!
Nick Foles seem to be exactly the guy you would want at QB from the culture perspective, but I’m starting to think that it’s going to take more talent than he is showing to remain as Kelly’s QB over the long term.
I just can’t get over how soul crushingly boring he is. In interviews, in the mic’ed up segments. In his life. Almost as bad as Mike Smith was in Hard Knocks.
The entertainment value of your team’s starting QB’s private life shouldn’t even be on the radar screen of your list of legitimate concerns.
It decreases my entertainment value in hearing him talk. Think about the guy in your office that you hate listening to and then imagine he’s your boss and is first in line for a raise that pays 4 times as much as you.
I’d be fine with it if the quality of his work was deserving – but this last conceit is very much up in the air at the moment.
I’d agree. If we got 2013 Nick back who was accurate and doing a good job of finding the open guy, making good decisions and not turning the ball over, I’d say we were set. But 2014 Nick is struggling way too much for my liking. Here’s hoping he turns it around after the bye and we don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Barret Brooks may need a new job. When asked who was his biggest surprises to this point in the season he said Maclin, ok, no problem. Then he said Lane Johnson. Then my head exploded.
This is cool. I wonder if AJ Feeley feels dissed.
http://imgur.com/rM6tsWg
Great article. Hard to judge the effectiveness of culture. In five years how do we attribute the success due to creating culture through FA, draft, resignings, and releasing players?
But that is the way that MBA/leadership books are going. Gallup/Fortune 500 talk more about hiring people with the right personality fit, than the most highly qualified for the job, albeit at that level most are highly qualified, ie Harvard 4.1 v Harvard 3.9. Things like self motivation, self initiation, eye contact, ability to avoid depression, become variables like 40 time, 3 cone etc. We’ve definitely seen our extremes as eagles fans, Shawn Andrews, Terrell Owens, even Chris Carter. http://deadspin.com/shawn-andrews-time-with-eagles-felt-like-a-living-hel-1467921034
Like to see the personality spider chart.
Re: Programs & Culture – The More Things Change, The More They Don’t
T-Law:
First time I heard an NFL head coach use the word “program” was Dick Vermeil — only a few months removed from UCLA — in July 1976. And he coupled building a program with developing a winning “culture.”
Here’s a great interview with Bill Bergey, who describes what Vermeil wanted to build. Bottom line, Vermeil wanted people who’d put the team first.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Alumni-Alley-Bill-Bergey/dd6cde5a-79b0-442f-9927-22eba3eb57ae
And regarding Chip Kelly, Bergey had the following to say — and I think he was dead on right:
“Chip has to clean the locker room and get rid of those who don’t have
the character that Chip wants. If Chip doesn’t think a player is going
to play for the team first, then that player won’t be long for the
Eagles. It happened in the 1970s and it is going to happen again.”
Portents of DJax’s departure, maybe?
Bergey’s article was prophetic. To fans it still stings though.
I have mixed feelings about this. I don’t want talented players to leave and get replaced by mediocre players that just want to stick to team. Kelly has to realize this league needs a mutual respect between coach + players. You can bench a guy like Shady if he’s giving you an attitude and lose games..then maybe lose your job here if this continues. We saw Reid coddle his players and losing respect at the end of his days here. Yet how many big name FAs came here because they liked him and homegrown talent defended him?
The big name FAs came because of the money.
Is that why Nnamdi chose us over the Jets and Cowboys? We had the better coaches (minus Juan) and team at the time (on paper).
We also paid him 16 million per year, so yea
Great stuff as always, ACV.
I figured some other coach talked about a program, but that word was new to me.
Re: The Mid-90’s Cowboys
T-Law:
Must dissent from your proposition that the mid-’90s Cowboys dynasty was so fragile that the loss of Jay Novacek essentially killed the team.
And I offer two principal reasons.
First, Jimmy Johnson built that team from ’89-’93. But he left the Cowboys after the ’93 season.
The new GM? Jerry Jones. An utter novice.
Second, that mid-90’s Cowboys dynasty bridged the era of the Rozelle Rule and pure Free Agency. As quality parts left the Cowboys, Jerry Jones could not replace them.
Would things have been different if Jimmy Johnson had stayed? Impossible to say.
But I think the chaos borne by his departure explains the Cowboys’ collapse better than anything else.
In fact, Dallas’s run ended in 1998. Quality talent wasn’t being brought in.
The great ’49ers teams of the ’80s and ’90s had the same problem at the same time. San Francisco ran out of juice in 1999. But with a more competent front office, the team rebounded a couple years later.
Also, look at the Cowboys’ winning percentage since ’96 under J-Jones — a perfect .500, I think, before this season. That bears out my premise.
This is a very fair point, but I still think my point is accurate. The dynasty didn’t fade. It came to a crashing halt. One Wildcard win after the Super Bowl run?
And that was with Aikman, Smith, Irvin, Deion, Larry Allen, Darren Woodson, Moose Johnston, Darrin Smith, Tony Tolbert, Leon Lett, Randall Godfrey, etc. The talent was there for them to win more than they did. Clearly they weren’t going to win SBs, but to do no better than a single wildcard win? That’s more about culture than anything else.
Thats a crazy amount of talent. Thats 5 HoF and most of them was still not even near suppose decline year
SEA also had the services of one Golden Tate last year. He has been having a pretty good season in DET with Megatron out with an injury. I guess they let him go because they thought Harvin would more than replace his production. Is Doug Baldwin the #1 WR now?
That and it’s rumored that he banged russell wilson’s wife.
Haha, I hate Russell Wilson. Ever since that fail mary where he and Tate acted like they just had the greatest play in the history of football I can’t stand the guy.
The Hawks lost ALOT of small contributors who gave them the depth needed to win and survive injuries.
Chip Kelly… I can imagine who the guy is with the sunglasses . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O02WseVFBw8
The army is looking for a few good men, and you ain’t it…
Swede!!!!! loved the scene where he got his ass kicked….
Met Vinny Curry yesterday at a concert in the Piazza, nice guy. hope he stays in green.
The military analogy strikes me as a stretch. These guys aren’t volunteers, playing for love of the game, they get paid a crapload of money to play football. And while I’m sure they all like winning, if the culture of sacrifice means that a player doesn’t get the playing time he’d like, or is used differently than he’d like, then he might not want to stay with the Eagles. Particularly someone like James Casey. He’s getting used like a third-stringer and that’s likely to affect his next contract.
I will say that most of the players Chip has brought in have been given chances to put up numbers, so Casey may be the outlier, but I do think it’s possible that a “culture of sacrifice” could impact how other players view the Eagles, and how willing they’d be to join the Eagles as free agents.
I think that’s a great point, especially when talking about bringing in top tier offensive skill players who usually have a more selfish streak to them.
I think he was specifically talking about the culture of being accountable to the guy next to you, not just the terms of your contract (or your next contract). Kelly’s looking for a bunch of “good soldiers” rather than trying to collect the most talented mercenaries he can find.
I thought this article captures the essence of it well. If Chip could, he’d get 53 Brent Celek-type personalities. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20141017_Why_Chip_Kelly_loves_Brent_Celek.html
Do football players sacrifice as much as one of our servicemen? Of course not. The analogy is Soldiers are to Mercenaries as Chip Kelly teams are to the 90’s Cowboys dynasty. Which is a functional analogy.
The problem I have with this is that the money in the NFL means that almost all players are mercenaries to some degree.
Which isn’t to say that many aren’t good soldiers anyway, just that it may not be easy to fill the team with players who are willing to sacrifice their personal glory for that of the team, when their paycheck is tied in some degree to that personal glory.
Agreed. It is a tough culture to attain and then maintain. Kelly seems to put a ton of emphasis into the idea of culture, I’m sure the subject and the challenge fascinate him. Only time will tell if he can pull it off and be successful.
It boils down to this:
1) Will the benefit of the culture we establish be worth the talent we pass up to establish/maintain that culture? (unfortunately it’s impossible to quantify any of that so that will never be answered, just comes down to philosophy)
2) At some point can your culture be strong enough to “make” good soldiers. Or put another way, once we’ve established a good culture, will we become a bit more personality-lenient. My guess is we will get to a point where we are just like every other team when it comes to rookie personality red flags. I think we will continue to be picky with free agents though.
Even back in the leather helmet era, coaches preached the whole “there’s no ‘I’ in team'” mantra. And winning’s requires sacrifice. Play through pain. Take one for the team. Blah, blah, blah.
My impression’s been that Kelly’s interest in the military, beyond the superficial, focuses more on training techniques that might be useful.
And I don’t mean greasing a 1-ton log and having players carry it across a stream at 3am.
Speaking of building a (Winning) culture: Jeremy Maclin or Demaryius Thomas?!
I haven’t heard anything bad about Thomas and he’s by far the better player. So Thomas hands down.
Yea would have Aaron Rodgers or Nick Foles? Why ask? Nobody would say Maclin in direct comparision, but consider the cost of a trade (no way he leaves the Broncos) and the difference in potential pay, I would take Maclin (costs no draft picks too keep and will most likely be around 4 million per year cheaper)
It was my understanding that DT will become a UFA if he doesn’t get tagged by the Broncos.
Kiss that pipe dream goodbye… You want a superstar? That player will need to be drafted and developed… How is this not obvious by now? ESPECIALLY now that we have half a roster of young players to extend Longterm.
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Personally I find talking about signing some other teams 50million dollar player a compete waste of time..
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Best you can hope for in free agency, is really good players(not stars) that are a perfect fit for our team:
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We signed Barwin, when Joe Banner was spending his Barmitzvha money on Paul Kruger…
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While the saints destroyed their team because they wanted to sign a 50millipn dollar safety, we went out and signed Malcolm Jenkins..
…
i thought this was clear and something we all saw the same way, I guess not
if you think you are close sometimes it’s necessary. Broncos went on a spending spree b’c it’s clear they were close and also deficient at certain positions.
Idzik didn’t spend to improve his team and he’s about to get fired.
Broncos are a very different situation than Chip. They have really nice looking window that won’t be open much longer…they don’t really have a choice, they have to go chase the title!…where as we are still building that window…
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I think you will see us continue to sign the guys that PFF talk shit about, who end up being perfect fits for our team like BARWIN, Jenkins… These aren’t superstars, but they are high caliber players with legit first and second round talent…those are the free agents we will continue to go after…
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Our Demaryious type of stars will come from drafting and developing them…considering I trust our front offices ability to draft talent, and I trust our coaches ability to develop young talent since I seen it with my eyes for two years now, it’s hard to argue with the strategy
I guess it all comes down to money – despite the fact that I don’t think the Broncos will let DT walk. But if, and that’s only a BIG IF for this discussion, DT would only cost 2m$/year more than Maclin, then this is a no-brainer to me.
DT might be the most complete WR after Megatron, and the latter is 2 years older.
They have more star players that they need to resign soon. Von Miller, Julius Thomas, and Demaryius Thomas will hit the FA in the next 2 years. Manning won’t be playing for much longer so I doubt Thomas wants to be there with a bum QB when he already played with Tebow.
Think I wouldn’t LOVE to see us land Demaryious? I would be skipping and singing thru the streets of philly like I did as a college student back when we had TO…
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But looking at two offseasons worth of Intel, and seeing how many contracts our front office needs to get done in the future, I see us signing someone else’s Star as Something we won’t see happen under this current regime…. I sure as hell would LOVE to be wrong tho…
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I feel like it’s so unlikely that we sign other teams stars that I don’t even look at those players in the free agent list anymore.. I literally have no clue what stars become free agents this year, but I can tell you all the quality Jabaal Sheard. Antoine Cason(props AC VIKING) types who are hitting the market this year that could intrest howie.
Kruger was overpaid…everyone knew it so why bring it up? Thomas is a top 3 WR in the league. Apples to oranges.
No, it’s not a waste of time to get a stud player if you think he’ll fit in and contribute at the same level. No one would turn down Von Miller/Justin Houston for the 10 million Cole will get next year.
So we lucked out on FA twice, so..now we have to hold onto our money that won’t be spent for an entire season? I don’t know about you, but one season is a long time and a lot can happen. I rather spend my money to improve the team and identify what happens..when it happens.
You are way off… Bro
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This is the busiest offseason of the chip regime.. “Hold on to money that won’t be spent” is seriously misguided.. We have all types of extensions to get signed, renegotiating the contracts of Cary and Meco to extend them at a different price for two more years.. Decisions on Bradley Fletcher, a Brandon Graham and Casey Mathews who could all leave in free agency…renegotiating Trent Coles crazy deal…I have no idea where you get this impression that we are sitting on Bags of money that won’t be touched for the next couple of years…. So much work to be done, that cap money is going to diminish quickly..
FOles
BG
Boykin
kendrick
Cox
Thornton
Curry possibly
casey Mathews possibly
Bradley Fletcher possibly
MACLIN
..
Renegotiate with
meco
cary
COLE
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By the time you get all those young players extended it will almost be time to start worrying about Lane, Ertz, logan.
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I have NO DESIRE to see us lose a guy like jenkins and Sproles so we can sign a 50million dollar player like the saints did with Byrd
Do you understand what earning an extension means? All of those players except Maclin and Thornton are signed through 2015. If they want to get in a hissy fit about their contracts then they have to show that they’re not just mediocre players. Cap increases next year anyway so I don’t see why you’re yapping about resigning players that haven’t earned a large contract anyway.
Maclin, Thornton, Kendricks and Graham are players who needs a new contract next year or deserve extension.
Also if you wanted to upgrade a WR, keep Maclin and replace Cooper.
TO without the attitude and dropsies.
Problem is that DT is going to get PAID. There’s no way Maclin will command near the money DT will, and we have so many young guys we need to lock up. If there was some way to get him here, yeah DT over Maclin all day, but I don’t think it’s realistic.
The only person we need to resign next off-season is Thornton. Everyone else is signed through 2015, which should be when start talking about contracts..
HOWIE is gong to be much busier than you seem to think… This will most likely be the busiest offseason since chip arrived…
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Maclin at around 8mil a year >>>> Thomas at 12-15 million a year.
Lol.
1. I really hope Mac will come cheaper than that.
2. There’s no way that DT will get 12-15m / year. None. Nada. Nein.
Both those figures would be market value for the players. Add in the fact that the cap is expected to increase like 40 million dollars over the next three years and those number may be low.
http://overthecap.com/position/wide-receiver/
I still only believe it when I see it.
Would DT block? 🙂
Shout out to Bryce Brown … give it hell…
Fred Jackson and Spiller are out, so initially I figured it would be bryce brown time now….but Bryce hasn’t been dressing, so I assume they dress 3 RBs like all teams, which would mean Bryce is the #4 RB…. Who is their #3 RB, and is it really possible that he will now start over Bryce Daddy?….. Trying to figure out if Bryce is worth picking up in Fantasy because he will now be the feature back, or if he is still just a #2?
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Jackson called him a 3 down back. But he doesn’t contribute on teams which is why he doesn’t dress and why he wasn’t long for this team.
Anthony Dixon and Bryce will likely split time.
The Eagles have said before that the Steelers are the template, note that the Steelers dumped talented WRs (Burress and Holmes) and moved on without a hitch, Hines Ward, less talented but much better intangibles stayed, and built a HOF caliber career. While they have had stars, they also built a lot of that team around pluggers like Keisel at DE, Foote at ILB, Clark at FS, Townsend and Taylor at CB. Name all the Steeler OL of the last decade. And so on. Big Ben is talented, but do you really think of him as an elite QB?
It’s not a matter of getting rid of talented players for less talented character guys, it’s a matter of getting rid of more talented but less disciplined players for talented players who have the intangibles to translate that talent to the field on a consistent basis, and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
This is a recoccuring theme in football, go back to the Miami “no name” defense.
Roethlisberger fits that mold? Didn’t he sexually assault people?
Did we admit to them being the template for the organization or just the defense. I definitely picked up that Billy D idolizes Dick Lebeau, haven’t really seen us say we were emulating them in any other way. Wait wait, now that you mention it I did see Howie glancing at his WWtSD? bracelet A LOT this off season.
Yeah the only times I ever heard about us mimicking the steelers is their base 3-4 two gap being a template for our defense,..but in reality we line up so many different ways that, calling it a 3-4 probably doesn’t accurately depict what we see on sundays…
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Best way to describe our defense is a base 3-4 2gap, multifront defense that will throw everything including the kitchen sink at you in every game, so your offense has to really prepare for everything.. 3-4, 3-4 1gap, 4-3, 4-2-5, 4-1-6, 3-3-5, Bear fronts, under fronts…..it can’t be easy to prepare for our defense
He might not have the sacks, but getting patted passes is almost as good (and think if Texans still had Watt+Barwin?)
They got another guy that may play tonight
Just valuing BARWIN as a pass rusher doesn’t come close to doing him justice,. he is a better pass rusher than most fans thought after watching him last year, but he is so much more valuable then just that.
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To have a chess piece that can eliminate a stud TE like Jimmy Graham from a playoff game by himself, without giving him extra attention/bracket coverage is just HUGE!
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As well as our OLBs have played they are earning all types of praise, but the strengths of their games is still the run game. Even when COLE and BG were struggling to make the transition, those two along with BARWIN were always ELITE at setting the edge and playing the run from the OLB spot. A guy like BARWIN rarely lets a runner get outside of him, funneling the opponent to Thornton, Logan and Fletcher to eat up.. COLE is just as good at setting the edge and BG ain’t a slouch either…….this is why the loss to the Niners hurt me so much, I can’t swallow it! We were shutting that offense down! That power run game was running into a brick wall also known as our defensive line puppies.
They were forced to get to the perimeter to beat us, and normally, we would NEVER lose a game like that! It will be a rare sighting that we lose a game because COLE and BARWIN are getting blown up and can’t set the edge well enough to keep runners from getting to the perimeter…to do so well against that bully power run game of the Niners and uncharecteristically let them get to the perimeter and get off the hook eats away at me. Hope we run into the Niners in the post season at the Linc!!! I want that game back BAD!
I take talent over culture any day of the week when building a professional sports team especially in basketball or baseball. The only sport that might not be true most of the time is hockey and that is because of how much ice time except goalies play.
Every new coach to varying degrees tries to instill his sense of culture on a team and inevitably cleans out some of the old veteran holdovers or younger players who don’t seem to fit.
Still think it was a poor move to get nothing for an asset (Jackson), invest decent dollars long-term in a subpar starting option (Cooper) who had his own much publicized off-field issue with some very negative comments from his own teammates, and try to sell those transactions as a part of the larger ‘culture’ issues.
Even those the Eagles haven’t gotten huge help from the draft this year, they seemed like they did quite well in FA/trades that addressed their most nagging issues last year including ST coverage, PR (Sproles), and FS (Jenkins). Sproles has arguably been their best overall player so far, Jenkins turned what was a gaping hole in a strength so far, and the ST coverage units have arguably been the best in the NFL so far. Even dumblucked into an upgrade at K too.
To me that has been the biggest difference this year so far and the areas that were the Eagles biggest weaknesses at the end of the season last year all have been upgraded and in some cases substantially so far. Yeah there are some areas where this team needs more help/talent (CB) or has been hard hit by injuries (OL) but there hasn’t been any area of the team so far that has been a real liability for 6 weeks.
1. the statement was scheme vs. culture, not talent. Obviously you need talent.
But:
2. a bad culture/splintered locker room will destroy a football team regardless of talent: classic example is the 2005 Eagles.
man the dallas hype is HUGE right now. i really hope we knock that smile off
I can’t even enjoy these next games because I want to play the Cowboys so bad and expose their holes..
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Dallas looks to be much better than last year..and a lot of it is legitimate improvement and quality football…but that’s not an elite football team if you ask me.. It looks like an elite team to people because a lot of it so far has been a mirage. They are using ball control run game to mask all its weakness…sooner or later they are going to face a good team that will expose Dallas weaknesses that they have been able to hide so well up to this point…
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For example… People think this is some top defense all of the sudden when it’s Not, forget their numbers, look at the percentages…it’s practically the same percentages as last years defense.. What jumps out at you when you take a look is how much less they are on the field then last year….. They are now running the ball so much better than last year that it’s keeping the D off the field drastically less than last season and it’s giving this illusion that they are now this top defense….when in reality this defense has plenty of weakness a good offense and a good offensive coach can exploit…
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Anotner example, that as a former offensive lineman drives me INSANE is hearing people call it the best offensive lineman in the NFL. It makes me so damn mad! The truth is that dallas as a pretty darn good run blocking OL, but they have some major liabilities in pass protection in Doug Free and Ronald Leary.. Just so happens that they are using the run game to mask those pass blockimg deficiencies. romo only threw like 22 passes……. I can assure you Dallas has a very beatable offensive line… They will provide a tough test in the run game, but thaws can be exposed in pass protection and we have the defensive horses in the front 7 to do it….you can’t tell me that’s the best OL in the NFL when 2 of the 5 OL are average at best…
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With that said. Beating Dallas ISNT a picnic. It will take a good team performance but they are a very beatable opponent for us
I only really worry about the teams that can give us problem in the trenches….that’s not the Cowboys! I’m talking teams like the Niners who on one side of the trenches throw guys like Justin Smith and Ray McDonald at us, and on the other side of the trenches they throw beast like Iupati and Staley at us,,. That’s a team that can bang with us in the trenches for 6 minutes….. Dallas OL and DL aren’t on that level.
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If you break down the individual MATCHUPS in the trenches, how many can the Cowboys really win?
1) Tyrone Smith is a monster I can see him beating COLE/BG
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2) their stud Center is a very formindable opponent, but Logan and Beau allen ARENT slouches that he will just dominate for 60 minutes..he is prob their 2nd toughest matchup for us, and we match up well with him..
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3) Zack Martin…HIGH QUALITY ROOKIE GUARD, but you
And above all lets not forget it’s chip kelly vs jason garrett..
i agree completely. dallas is built to play with a lead. if we can stop the run early and force romo to be a gunslinger he’s gonna get eaten up. cole vs. Tyron Smith will determine this game.
Everything about this article reads like one from The Onion:
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/11734041/gm-percy-harvin-deal-potential-coup-new-york-jets
Raise your hand if you were around in the 1970s, when the whole Cowboys phenomenon took off? With “Captain America” Roger Staubach — Heisman winner, Vietnam Vet, Captain Comeback, and devoted husband — at QB?
And don’t forget the role of then-team president Tex Schramm — a marketing genius in his own right (sound familiar?) — in putting scantily-clad young, buxom, beautiful Cal-girls on the sidelines as another way to attract media attention and new fans.
What we’re getting now is nothing compared to the ’70s.
Not even the ’90s was as bad as the Staubach-era.
I can’t raise my hand for this…or really even accurately remember most of the details of the early 2000’s… can we still be friends anyway?
Kind of cool seeing where it all came from.
Friends, indeed.
Cryboys (named by John Banaszak) were not my favorites but they did have good players. Gil Brandt is credited with revolutionizing scouting and drafting with computers. Then there was Hollywood Henderson.
YOU CANT BEND A GUY IN HALF MAN. DO you know WHO THIS GUY IS? THrow a flag. you cant bend a guy in half just to break his leg. This guy IS IMPORTANT. kuhn knows that. THAT PISSES ME OFF MAN!
best ever.
doe anyone have a short url link to it please ?
There was a link in the comments section of the previous post. The video was embedded in an article, so I don’t know if that is what you are looking for.
I made a tiny url so that I could link it on my Bloomberg machine to everyone forever…
im quoting Nick whnver someone does something bad!!
best ever
how did phillyphanatic93 score it?? way to go!
http://tinyurl.com/km9g9zs
I’m sure PhillyMag and bleedinggreennation will have the videos up for you… ..
I made a tiny url so that I could link it on my Bloomberg machine to everyone forever… I love I/cant get enough of it!
..how did “phillyphanatic93” get it?? its brilliant ..was it local tv //
http://tinyurl.com/km9g9zs
Chip n FOles were Mic’ed up for the game. It first appeared on inside the NFL on showtime which airs on Tuesday. Later in the week they air the show on NFL network..they also used it for other NFL network shows last week, so it def wasn’t local media
This isn’t a Talent vs, Culture sort of deal…
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talent is a prerequisite for Chip…but Talent alone ismt ENOUGH for Chip. A guy can’t be so talented that chip will overlook the fact that he is selfish or not a high character guy
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If it was talent vs, Culture sort of deal, then Colt Anderson would still be in Philly. High character, special teams leader, everyone liked him, we could have kept him,for cheap…all the high character, why is he no longer an eagle? Because he wasn’t TALENTED enough…so we went out and got Maragos, who brings all the character and intangibles that Colt brought, but is a more TALENTED Football player than COLT.
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Some coaches will overlook everything because a kid is just so darn talented…that’s not chip. Chip values talent as much as any coach in the world, but to chip, Talent isn’t enough… He will always look at the most talented players, and select the one with the best character and highest football IQ..
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A guy like Chip wouldmy have Draft Vontaze Burfict…. But he isn’t going to take a casey mathews over Vontaze..He will want a guy with similar talent to Vontaze, but who also brings much more character to the locker room than Burfict
I think most players — because the NFL has just a handful of legit superstars – fit the category of “tell me where the brick wall is, coach, and I’ll run through it.”
Totally agree it’s not an either/or deal for Kelly.
He just has boundaries. The best coaches do.
Yup yup…Talent isn’t enough…where as for some coaches, Talent trumps everything…. Chip wants that talent, but he also wants the intelligence, and the selfless team player/soldier too.
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Oh btw, props to you sir! Went back and started to check out Antoine Cason’s play..l like what I see! He could be high on our list, depending on what happens with Brad and Cary…
Matthews fits the mold you outlined to a “t”. I think you’re spot on.
Thought you might like Cason.
Yeah he def sticks out in a really weak CB market this year..
Re: Bill Walsh
Here’s Walsh’s first first lesson in leadership, quoted in its entirety (link to his nine other lessons follows):
_________________
1. Developing a Successful Team Starts with Developing a Successful Culture
In taking over a team with a 2-14 record the previous season, Coach
Walsh knew the key to transforming the losing mentality of the 49ers was
to implement a totally different culture; one that was top-notch
instead of toxic. Walsh called the new winning culture his Standard of
Performance. It was a totally different way of thinking and acting that
was based on high standards, hard work, and a commitment to being
first-class in everything they did.
Walsh wrote in The Score Takes Care of Itself, “I came to the San Francisco 49ers with a specific goal – to implement what I call the Standard of Performance. It was a way of doing things, a leadership philosophy, that has as much to do with core values, principles, and ideals as with blocking, tackling, and passing; more to do with the mental than with the physical.”
Your first job as a new coach should be to create a culture of success. You must model, communicate, teach, reward, and enforce the expectations and standards for how your program will operate – including how your athletes will train, practice, compete, win, lose, lead, and conduct themselves on and off the playing field.
Creating, communicating, implementing, and sustaining the right team culture is the key catalyst to lasting success. Walsh said, “The culture precedes positive results. It doesn’t get tacked on as an afterthought on your way to the victory stand. Champions behave like champions before they’re champions: they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”
Instilling the right culture almost always takes time. And inevitably there will be some who balk against your standards. But, you must have the courage to confront and even remove the dissenters from your program, even though they might be highly talented. Ultimately, you must believe that your successful culture will attract, support, and retain the right talent and people, which will help you prevail and succeed in the long run.
“For me, the road had been rocky at times, triumphant too, but along the way I had never wavered in my dedication to installing – teaching – those actions and attitudes I believed would create a great team, a superior organization. I knew that if I achieved that, the score would take care of itself,” said Walsh.
Questions for You to Consider:
What kind of culture or Standard of Performance have you instilled in your program?
How well do your people embrace it?
Are you willing to confront and potentially remove those who do not embrace your standards?
To learn more about creating a Championship Culture in your program, check out our new book How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture.
___________________
http://www.championshipcoachesnetwork.com/public/461.cfm
Seem familiar AC. I like the Chip story about not taking shortcuts across the lawn at the Eagles training facility. My guess is that Chip’s culture transformation with the Eagles is moving at warp speed, uptempo so to speak.
OD:
I also thought of that same directive when I read the Walsh summary. Little things matter.
Chip Kelly n Laurie did have a meeting with the former coach of the most successful sports team in the world.. Talent living the culture be hard to beat
Who’s Laurie?
Kelly has made it clear that he wants to rack up points and he wants to win. He wants self-starters and football-smart players, but not at the expense of ability. I don’t think you can say anyone covets talent more than Kelly
Who doesn’t want talent? If there were coaches who took character over talent, Tim TEBOW would be a NFL QB
Tebow-mania . . . a sad testament to the national media’s sheer lack of football smarts.
He was a story. He was going to generate clicks. That’s all a lot of journalists really care about.
so with the cowgirls upcoming schedule it doesn’t look great for us winning the division really does it?
they play a much easier schedule moving forward. we
would have to beat the Seahawks, which we can, but also the packers which will be very tough to do.
if we can beat dallas twice though that would do it, but can we?
Don’t think about that right now. All we should be thinking about is taking care of Arizona. That’s the only worry this week. We can start worrying about next week on Monday. And each successive week on the following Monday. I really think the Cowboys are going to stumble looking ahead at what they think they should be. Murray is going to start breaking down at some point, and when he does it’s going to be on Romo’s shoulders again. That’s what we want.
Austin Pettis cut by the rams. 6’3″ 203 WR that plays special teams – -wonder if we’ll take a look if he clears waivers. I don’t think he has squad eligibility though.
He plays special teams too but I doubt he makes it through waivers
Few bye week thoughts since we sadly do not have any Eagles this week.
Most disappointing division BY FAR is the NFC South. Falcons are a train wreck, Saints are only a notch above that, Panthers lead the division as a very unconvincing 3-3 after getting absolutely gobstomped by the Packers (no one fears that defense anymore, just 1 year later), and the Buccaneers have been an embarrassment.
With the Seahawks sudden decline the most likely super bowl contenders appear to be the Cowboys, the Broncos, the Packers, the Eagles, and the Chargers.
Gus Bradley watch: In his second year as skipper of the Jags, he’s off to a 1-6 start. Philadelphia media personalities everywhere wish they could scrub their twitters without anyone knowing.
Saying that the offensive line is under-appreciated and an underrated factor in a teams success is almost a cliche at this point, but it is so true. Demarco Murray is the exact same back he was last year. With the Cowboys offensive line playing like the best unit in football, Demarco Murray looks like he will break the 2,000 yard barrier this year. With the Eagles offensive line ravaged by injuries and a suspension, they are struggling mightily in most games to establish any kind of running attack, despite having a consensus top 5 running back in the league.
I maintain that as long as the Cowboys OL remains injury free (something we have not been able to avoid), they will remain one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL.
I predict that Peyton Manning will throw 50 touchdowns during the season of his 50th birthday. Because he is a cyborg.
Watt’s up?!
Did the Steelers just score 59 points in 3 minutes?! It sure felt like it…
Fun fact: Romeo Crennell was voted Most Likely to Be Portrayed By a Walrus in Cartoon Form in high school.
Awesome