Chipmania

Posted: July 26th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 55 Comments »

Chip Kelly met with the local media a while back and answered a ton of questions. The media held the stories so they would have something to write about as a lead-up to the opening of Training Camp. Those stories are starting to break this morning and will continue for several days.

If you get tired of Chip Kelly stories quickly…this won’t be your favorite week.

First up is Jimmy Bama with the best non-story you’ll read all day. Players like DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Evan Mathis and Frank Gore all have been represented by Drew Rosenhaus. Three of them were let go by the Eagles and Gore was involved in a weird “I’m an Eagle” vs “I’m a Colt” situation. Is Rosenhaus a problem for Kelly?

“I don’t really deal with agents,” Kelly said. “I think we have a real good relationship. We have a real good relationship with Drew I can tell you that. I think Drew has been very professional, very detailed, I think he gets a bad rap to be honest with you in my dealings with him. I think he’s been above board, straight ahead, detail-oriented, very organized and you know exactly where you stand. I think anybody will tell you that when you deal with Drew you know exactly where you stand. Wish more people acted like that to be honest with you.”

Rosenhaus represents more than five percent of the NFL’s players, many of whom are very good players. It certainly doesn’t behoove Kelly to speak poorly of Rosenhaus to a gaggle of reporters and potentially strain that relationship. As such, Kelly’s complimentary words on Rosenhaus don’t come as much of a surprise.

Kelly, not specifically talking about his former Rosenhaus players, noted that the players they cut had another common denominator. “They were all very expensive,” said Kelly. “I think that’s just the nature of contracts in this league. A lot of them are back-end loaded. I mean, then decisions have to be made. So guys are making 10, 11 million dollars a year, you have to make a decision on them. That’s just part of really how the league is set up. That’s why when people throw all these numbers out, that Player X signed a five-year $100 million contract when two years are guaranteed at 8 apiece, he never signed a five-year, $100 million contract. He’s never going to see that, so that’s just the way the league is.

“And there’s guys that… DeMarcus Ware had a very high contract, and he got let go at the end of his contract. Does that mean he’s a not a good football player? He’s a hell of a football player. He’s just, the pay for play at that point in time, was he worth X? The same thing happened with [Darrelle] Revis. Are you going to pay him, I don’t know what he was supposed to make, 20? I mean, those numbers really just got really high at the end of a lot of contracts.”

Still, when you look at all the names Rosenhaus represents who have had unceremonious exits with the Eagles since Kelly was hired, you do wonder. So let’s look at them all individually…

Go read the whole piece. Jimmy breaks down each situation thoroughly. As for his conclusion…I won’t spoil that, although I’ve already given you a key hint.

* * * * *

Roob wrote about Kelly dismantling the Eagles and why that happened.

In all, the Eagles said goodbye to nine regular starters, including big names like LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin, long-time Eagles like Todd Herremans and Trent Cole and recent Pro Bowlers like Nick Foles and Evan Mathis.

Players who started a staggering 658 games in an Eagles uniform in their career were either traded, released or allowed to sign elsewhere.

Why tear apart a 10-win team?

“I didn’t feel we were close at the end of the year,” Kelly said. “Ten and six, not going to the playoffs, is just like being 4-12. I understand it numbers wise, but it’s still…”

It’s still not good enough, Kelly decided.

It’s easy to realize you have to fix a lousy team. Kelly realized late in the season that he had to find a way to fix a pretty good team.

“I knew we had to get better as a team,” he said. “And I think in this league, it’s almost year-to-year. Teams don’t stay up or down.”

In other words, going 10-6 did not seem to Kelly like a stepping stone to a Super Bowl run.

So Sam Bradford replaced Foles. DeMarco Murray replaced McCoy. Nelson Agholor replaced Maclin. Byron Maxwell replaced Cary Williams.

We have discussed this premise a few times this offseason. The Eagles were a winning team. They were a good team. They were not a championship team. They didn’t have the potential to be great. You can try to tweak a good team for a while and hope you can put it over the top. That generally only works when you have a franchise QB to build around. And even then it isn’t a sure thing.

Kelly loved Nick Foles as a person, but just didn’t think he was ever going to be good enough to put the team over the top. That meant something had to be done at QB. There weren’t great options so Kelly made the risky trade for Sam Bradford, a player who does have a higher ceiling than Foles.

As for the rest of the moves, age and expense had a large role in most of them. Todd Herremans and Trent Cole were simply declining players. Trading Shady netted a potential stud LB and save the team money, which it then invested in a pair of bigger, stronger and faster RBs.

The one player the Eagles didn’t want to let go was Jeremy Maclin, but KC was willing to overpay for him so the Eagles let him walk and then drafted Nelson Agholor in the 1st round.

The changes in the secondary? I don’t think anyone had much of a problem with them.

The Eagles feel like a more talented team right now. Time will tell if they are a better team…if Kelly made the right moves. He certainly had the right intentions and there is logic to everything he did, but there are risks as well. We’ll just have to wait and see which risks pan out and which ones went wrong.

* * * * *

Mark Saltveit wrote about Kelly last week. He was challenging some perceived myths about Chippah.

— “Adult millionaire NFL stars won’t go for Chip Kelly’s “college boy” hard-work-and-hustle mentality.”

This is the weakest myth of all, because it normalizes and encourages immature, self-destructive behavior by players. First of all, “adult” is a stretch, since NFL rookies are one year older than college kids, and most flush out before age 26 — especially those who spend their time nightclubbing and making reality TV shows.

More importantly, the best players in the NFL of any age — Darrelle Revis, Peyton Manning,Marshawn Lynch, J.J. Watt, Richard Sherman — work their asses off, studying tape, learning new moves, and haunting gyms.

They’re millionaires many times over, but their goal isn’t to get rich. Those money-grubbers are the ones who disappear after their first big contract. Thereare people in the NFL who will coast on their talent and do just enough work to stay in the league and maintain their lifestyle. But Chip doesn’t want them on his team, and that’s just common sense. It will make it harder to find the  perfect players for his scheme, but to say that such players don’t exist is foolish.

I’ve got to disagree with Mark a bit here. Manning and Revis are all about money. Both guys have tried to max out every possible penny when they have had the chance. That isn’t to say they aren’t great players, but those two love their cash. I have never understood Manning’s obsession with being the highest paid player. Why not sacrifice some money and have the team spend it elsewhere? Tom Brady has done that a few times in his career.

As to Kelly and dealing with NFL players…complicated subject. Mark is right in pointing out there are plenty of high level guys that are grinders. They will work really hard regardless of who is coach. The question is really how coaches with college backgrounds will do with a team over the long term. Motivating and coaching men is different than motivating and coaching boys.

The most famous example of this is Lou Holtz. He went 33-12-3 in 4 years with NC State, including one ACC title and bowl appearances every year (back in an era when making a bowl actually meant something). Holtz left NC State to coach the NY Jets. One of the first things he did was write a fight song for the Jets. He wanted to bring some emotion to pro football. Holtz went 3-10 and was fired before the season was even over. He went to Arkansas and resumed a terrific college career.

One of the assistants on that Arkansas team was a young man named Pete Carroll. He has won big in college and the NFL. There is no question that college coaches can win in the NFL. Can they sustain success? Carroll is entering his 6th season with Seattle. Not many guys are left from the first couple of years so I doubt Carroll’s style/message are getting lost on anyone yet.

Carroll is seeing the tough side of the NFL as he has contract distractions with Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Michael Bennett. Carroll didn’t have that issue at USC. When one star left, he just replaced him with a new star. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the northwest.

Kelly has proven that he can coach in the NFL. The big question with his is whether he can put together a Super Bowl team. After that will be the question of whether he can sustain success. The one thing we know for sure at this point is that he has clearly shown he’s not Holtz/Steve Spurrier. Those guys could not handle the NFL. Chip can coach at any level.

_

55 Comments on “Chipmania”

  1. 1 BC1968 said at 2:42 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    We’ve had the song, and that’s why we’re always right there. Holtz is an idiot, he’s lucky he got 3 wins with the kind of song I can only imagine he came up with.

  2. 2 P_P_K said at 3:03 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Great writing, Tommy. Thanks.

  3. 3 wee2424 said at 3:25 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I think Kelly is a great coach, perfect for this team, couldn’t be happier to have him. That being said I think the obsession the media and fans have for him is strange. The talk among the media and fans regarding him at times make it seem like he is a new breed of human being or an Albert Einstein. The obsession over his personal life and his old marriage is just strange

  4. 4 BobSmith77 said at 9:33 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Polarizing figure with a very distant personality and public persona.

    People can be skeptics right now too not only because of the myriad of personnel change but because Kelly is now the undisputed football operations executive too.

    If the offseason moves don’t pan out, it is on Kelly.

  5. 5 MagsBirdieBaby said at 3:28 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Saltveit is right. There is only 1 birthday between a “college” senior and a young NFL player. Of course, 99.9% of NFL players actually come from universities, not colleges, so there is that.

    Here also is a brief list of many of the grown men NFL players caught behaving like sulky little boys. Just in the last few months. It is not a complete list.

    http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/fines-suspensions/

  6. 6 Bert's Bells said at 3:32 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    All universities are colleges, but not all colleges are universities.

    Or in SAT form: University is to ship as college is to boat.

  7. 7 TommyLawlor said at 4:08 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I had no idea.

  8. 8 OldDocZOMGamazeballs said at 4:20 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Is that right? I always thought it was an either/or deal. Colleges only do undergrad degrees, universities do both undergrad and graduate.

    So a university can do anything a college does, but it isn’t a college. Have I been wrong all these years?

    #importantoffseasondebates

  9. 9 Bert's Bells said at 4:43 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    The distinction comes from the Oxford University system (the oldest English language school). It’s comprised of dozens of discrete schools that are it’s “colleges”. Those colleges form the University.

    When a school has a graduate program that (almost) automatically makes it a University, since it implies a new school that caters to post-grads, while the other school caters to undergrads.

  10. 10 OldDocZOMGamazeballs said at 4:52 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/woah.gif

  11. 11 Kelce's Beard said at 6:01 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    ah, thanks! great movie. Carlin’s best role ever

  12. 12 OldDocZOMGamazeballs said at 6:03 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I made a Bill and Ted reference the other week and about 60% of the office had never heard of the movie. Young people are dreadful.

  13. 13 Bert's Bells said at 6:41 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I overheard a dad yesterday saying So-crates to his kids.

    They were all “WTF, dad, it’s sock-ra-tees”.

  14. 14 OldDocZOMGamazeballs said at 6:46 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Look him up! He’s under “So-crates”.

  15. 15 Joe Minx said at 8:54 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Reminds of a Wheel of Fortune episode. The puzzle was “Greek mythological hero Achillies” or something. Guy pronounced Achilles AY-chil-us.

  16. 16 Eaglesfannn66 said at 1:39 PM on July 27th, 2015:

    The point that Saltveit is missing, is that when college players graduate, they feel as if they are ” men ” now ( aka – professionals ) and expect to be treated as such. Warranted or not, that’s how they feel. As far as the veterans ( players with at least 2 years starting ) they mostly feel that the ( college – ra , ra days ) are behind them. Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carrol have had great success with that style, we will see if Kelly can pull it off.

  17. 17 GEAGLE said at 5:09 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    We can also look at it as clearing Shadys money, to swing for the fences taking on Bradfords 13mil… We are able to take a flier on an elite talent because we had the cap space to absorb his 13mil…. We could have signed two quality players with that 13mil, but QB is paramount so it was a smart flier to take…. When was the last QB flier like this? Drew Brees?
    …
    russell Wilson is out of control with his contract demands… If the Seahawks make him the highest paid player in the league it would wreck that franchise,,. over rate lil shit, placed in An amazing situation.. I hope Russell gets all the money he is looking for, costing him that dream team he is sorrounded with so he can show he isn’t worthy of elite Franchise Dollars….

  18. 18 SteveH said at 5:17 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    For better or worse, in Chip we trust. Going into this season with a lot of optimism.

  19. 19 GEAGLE said at 5:17 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Best front 7 in the game…. That’s good enough for me..

  20. 20 eagleyankfan said at 8:50 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    Preach!

  21. 21 Insomniac said at 5:21 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Saltveit generalizing things that isn’t something about Oregon? That’s not new.

  22. 22 unhinged said at 5:35 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I’ll never be mistaken for a Manning apologist, but your taking exception to Salveit’s point isn’t really on point. You can say they are “all about the cash”, but do you think anybody on any of Peyton’s teams ever outworked the guy? And as astute a tactician as Manning is, he probably sees a lesson for all in a pecking order reflective of team priorities. As for Revis, he knows from experience that he’s an injury from another line of work, but that doesn’t mean he disappears after getting paid. Twice he bet on himself and won.

  23. 23 Insomniac said at 6:58 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Great players get paid very well. Isn’t that how it has always been since the Superbowl era?

  24. 24 BobSmith77 said at 9:37 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Not at all. Just go back and look at all of the labor strife, strikes, and piecemeal fashion in which true free agency came about in the NFL. Took nearly 15 years.

  25. 25 TommyLawlor said at 10:22 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I never said they weren’t great players or didn’t work incredibly hard.

    My point is that both players seems to obsess over being the highest paid. I have no problem with players getting mega-deals. I just think it says something that Brady is willing to take a little less and Manning wants every nickel. Both are wildly rich. Both are great players. But there is a difference.

  26. 26 eagleyankfan said at 8:53 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    There is a “whole lot” to that difference. Not many will see the difference so it’s probably not worth explaining. Part(not all) is Brady is not selfish. That, in return, brings rings.

  27. 27 Mark Saltveit said at 11:16 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Excellent points. 😉

    I was just about to say this same thing. I have no problem with a hard-working player getting paid. It’s a short career, get it while you can. I also don’t have a problem with free agents — teams show no loyalty to players, so they can’t expect any back. But when a team re-signs its good players for good money, that’s ideal.

    I think Maclin and Shady are both going to miss what they had in Philadelphia. Whether the extra million a year is worth it for Maclin, we’ll see.

  28. 28 Flyin said at 12:06 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    Shady was missing Philly the moment he got word he was traded. I expect him to decline quickly in his new environment.

    Maclin may miss what he had in Philly, however, I expect him to be professional as he transitions to KC, as it was his choice.

  29. 29 TypicalDouche said at 7:07 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Casey Matthews – LB – Vikings
    Vikings placed LB Casey Matthews (hip) on injured reserve, ending his season.
    Matthews signed with Minnesota this offseason after spending his first four years in Philadelphia. Clay’s far-less talented sibling, Matthews was going to compete for a roster spot as a special teamer and reserve linebacker.
    Source: Ben Goessling on Twitter Jul 26 – 12:51 PM

    …….

    Off topic but this made me laugh.

  30. 30 D3FB said at 7:08 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Someone getting hurt makes you laugh?

  31. 31 Bert's Bells said at 7:11 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Typical Douche!

  32. 32 TypicalDouche said at 7:22 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Yea Casey Mathews getting hurt made me laugh. If your upset about that guess what I don’t care. Look at the name, enough said.

  33. 33 Javi Echie said at 7:26 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Dude that’s a little harsh but I guess you’re entitled to your own opinion.

  34. 34 wee2424 said at 9:52 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    I guess its better to admit you are a douche then to try and hide it.

  35. 35 ACViking said at 8:01 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Re: Classic Kelly-ism

    T-Law:

    I got quite a laugh from Kelly’s remarks about Rosenhaus (the quote you borrowed from Jimmy Bama).

    Kelly says, with no small amount of irony:

    “I don’t really deal with agents . . . I think he [Rosenhous] gets a bad rap to be honest with you in my dealings with him.”

    Kelly doesn’t deal with agents — except, apparently, when he does.
    ______________

    For a guy as bright, driven, and curious as Kelly, I have to believe there are times he asks himself when giving a quotes like the one about Rosenhaus:

    “Is anyone even listening to what I’m actually saying?”

    Yes. Football season is back.

  36. 36 SteveH said at 10:25 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    “The best ability is durability”

    *signs Ryan Mathews and Sam Bradford*

  37. 37 BobSmith77 said at 9:29 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Coverage of Kelly’s personal life probably is so tempting because he refuses to discuss any of it but entirely his right. Expect the media to dig right now too because any stories of substance are really scare until camp starts too.

    It is a little odd to the degree that Kelly appears to try to ensure that none of his family or immediate friends talk to the media either but Belichick apparently does the same thing too.

  38. 38 BobSmith77 said at 9:42 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Disagree strongly that Revis’ motivating goal isn’t to get rich. He has fairly blunt and open about it in the past including this last offseason and why shouldn’t he be especially if he produces?

    Don’t begrudge any NFL player for trying to get the best contract they can given their likely NFL career span, level of pain they have to play through while playing, the price they’ll pay for it health wise later in life for playing organized football including the strong likelihood of a reduce life span, and the alternative being the money otherwise ends up in the hands of the owners.

  39. 39 Flyin said at 10:31 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    “and the alternative being the money otherwise ends up in the hands of the owners.”

    Please explain.

  40. 40 BobSmith77 said at 10:37 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Just meant if revenues aren’t spent on players it will back in the owners’ hands to see as they see fit to spend.

    That’s all.

  41. 41 Flyin said at 10:46 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    The money is/will be spent on players. Some money gets rolled over, some is used for extensions during the year. In no way do I feel Jeff Lurie has ever been one to not pay players for his own benefit. I am no cap guy, but those in the know have explained how this all plays out and how the money gets distributed.

    Tommy’s take, there is only so much money to go around. You have to pay 53 guys and then some. Share the wealth a little and you can get more quality guys on the team.

  42. 42 Cafone said at 10:33 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    new posts on eaglesblog.net http://eaglesblog.net/

    don’t forget to add it to your bookmarks or rss feeds

  43. 43 Flyin said at 10:36 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    No new posts for 3 1/2 months. What a slacker!

  44. 44 BobSmith77 said at 10:39 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Certain the ‘Bradford first days in camp’ will even be more tedious and completely overkill than these largely filler Kelly articles.

  45. 45 Flyin said at 11:00 PM on July 26th, 2015:

    Kempski saying the Eagles are at fault for the Mathis mess… needs to get his head checked.

  46. 46 anon said at 12:53 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    they said we played it poorly, i think we were just over mathis, and he got cut. kelly kicked him a little on the way out but rosenhaus overplayed his hand.

    crazy that rosenhaus reps 5% of the league.

  47. 47 Ben said at 1:18 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    I trust that Chip evaluated the position and the depth behind Mathis versus his age and perhaps researched player decline variables before he told Lurie to send him packing.
    With the players that will be playing alongside either OT position, they will surely benefit and will not need to be stellar.
    I truly believe Kelly is more methodical than any of us will ever know.

  48. 48 Ben said at 1:07 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    Now here is a subject I can read and write and talk about all day.
    Thank you Tommy.

    It is an awesome feeling to have a coach like Chip Kelly leading our team.
    He reminds me of that old John Hancock commercial, ” When John Hancock speaks, everybody listens”.
    He has brought a new kind of hope to this city.
    What astounds me is how come he’s bringing so many new concepts to a game that has been around for nearly a century.
    He is so unique yet he respects the history of the game.
    He’s an old school smash mouth kind of coach, but his intellect allows him to think so far outside the box that it leaves most of his fans in awe.

    I love how he can take any basic concept and question it, then formulate a better way to execute said concept and make improvements that literally no one else thought of, and then it becomes the new standard way of doing it.

    For instance, all NFL teams for decades have a set schedule for practicing and what days should be off days and Kelly just flipped the script and changed it.
    This was not done on a whim, nor was it Kelly trying to look smarter than everyone else. He changed it because he questioned it, researched it thoroughly, consulted with many highly qualified professionals and changed something that nobody even thought could or should be changed.
    Many NFL teams are taking his ideas and implementing them into their teams playbooks across the NFL and many more will follow.

    In my wildest dreams, I never thought a Football coach could be so intelligent that even the great Einstein himself would be green with envy.
    The Eagles are going places with Chip leading this team and we should all feel fortunate that we are here on the ground floor watching him ascend.

    I better stop myself here or this post could easily encompass
    several pages of how deep down the rabbit hole I can go talking about
    Chip.

  49. 49 Bert's Bells said at 7:02 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    E.F. Hutton

  50. 50 OregonDucker said at 11:14 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    Amen.

  51. 51 anon said at 2:12 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    Gotta love it:

    From shady: “Since the media and Internet took my before camp party outta context,
    I had to switch up my party strategy,” McCoy said. “So tonight I’ll be
    inviting everyone to my back to business party . Featuring DJ
    @DonaldTrump on the 1’s and 2’s . Special invited guests @RexRyan ,
    @chipKelly ,@Rogergodell , my man Barack .oprah, Carli Llyod , and even
    that terrible waiter with the awful service from the burger joint is
    invited. Don’t bring your Id because there won’t be any alcohol
    anyway. Open smoothie bar all night tho . Don’t worry bout the
    confidentiality agreement. No only are ladies invited but everyone is
    invited , except hulk hogan he can’t come . Maybe even @meekmill and
    @drake will hit the stage together . Turn up time party time !!!!”

  52. 52 Bert's Bells said at 7:01 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    I was thinking the title of this post was somehow a jab a Chip Kelly as a Hulkamanic.

  53. 53 Dominik said at 7:44 AM on July 27th, 2015:

    @ T-Law

    Peyton changed a bit after his injury.

    http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/peyton-manning-contract-tom-brady

    Original source

    http://mmqb.si.com/2014/03/25/nfl-owners-meetings-primer

    And while that wasn’t as voluntary as in 2012 because there were negotiations, he did reduce his salary for around 4m this year, if I remember correctly.

  54. 54 Eaglesfannn66 said at 1:30 PM on July 27th, 2015:

    Just to clarify a few things about Lawlors, ( Manning and Brady ) comments.
    #1 ) Manning took a ( $ 4 million dollar ) pay cut this year, with the Broncos.
    #2 ) Brady ( has never ) taken a actual ” pay cut ” in New England. He has ( deferred ) some of his ” guaranteed ” salary, to a later time in his contract. So ( just to be accurate ) Lawlor was off, on both of those points.

  55. 55 Sam Bradford getting hurt may not be so bad said at 8:11 AM on July 28th, 2015:

    […] Chipmania – Tommy Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com […]