Brian Kelly?

Posted: January 9th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 49 Comments »

We know the Eagles have been heavily checking out college coaches (Chip Kelly, Bill O’Brien, Doug Marrone).  I was a bit surprised tonight when over on Twitter I saw this:

one hour payday loans

If Glazer says it, it is true.

And then Adam Schefter/Chris Mortensen added this:

Wow, that’s interesting.

Jeff McLane has a report up already.

The argument for Kelly is that he’s a program builder and strong leader.  He’s won everywhere he’s been.  He had Cincinnati at 12-0 in his final season (didn’t coach the bowl game, which they lost).  He had Notre Dame at 12-0 this year before Nick Saban went all Nick Saban on the Fighting Irish.

The argument against Kelly is that his confrontational style of coaching might not work so well in the NFL.  Also, his offensive background isn’t all that clearly defined.  He threw the ball a lot at Cincy and struggled to build a running game.  At ND he has struggled with the passing game.  They did finish 11th in rushing this year.  I need to do a lot of research to try and find out what Kelly ideally likes to do.

Another issue is QB development.  There has been little at ND.  Gholson is just a R-Fr. so judging him is tough.  Kelly did develop Tony Pike at Cincy, but he isn’t exactly an elite QB.  Has Kelly just not had the guys to work with? Has he just not done a good job with them?

I have very mixed feelings on this news.  Kelly is a winner and you can’t ignore that.

Grand Valley St 118-35-2

Central Michigan 19-16

Cincinnati 34-6

Notre Dame 28-11

I just wonder how his personality and ideas would translate in the NFL.  Interesting news at the very least.

_

  • http://twitter.com/hotcakes_33 Glenn Jaffe

    Just say no, please!! This would be worse than Rich Kotite!

  • mac

    As a eagles/ND fan, i now know how the Penn St/Eagle fan felt. Stay where u r. eagles can find some1 else (like gruden, a coach who played for my actual school, dayton)

  • bdbd20

    Not too thrilled about him. I wonder if the success of his players (Cole, Celek, Kelce) has left a good impression on the three amigos.

    I do agree that he is a winner, but I question his leadership style. Not really the CEO type.

    • D3Keith

      Cole left Cincy in ’05, Kelly got there in ’06 and didn’t stay long.

  • Iskar36

    It seems the Eagles are fascinated with getting a college coach. Is this a coincidence? Is it them doing due diligence? Or do you think they have strategic reasons to be looking at college coaches (maybe they see the NFL is starting to take a lot of ideas from college football, so they think there is an advantage for us to have a college coach).

    • jshort

      This could be a historic approach, they might be thinking of plucking a Vermeil from the collegiate ranks.

  • holeplug

    I actually like him as a coach. He knows how to build programs from the ground up but no NFL experience is a huge red flag. Hes also not the innovator that Chip Kelly is so there is too much risk to take a chance on him imo.

  • BobSmith77

    NFL Coordinator? College coach? Rehashed veteran coach? It’s been really hard to read the tea leaves to see what the Eagles really want.

    Either they are just trying to get as much information as they can through a comprehensive interviewing process or they have already changed their minds once or twice without a surefire answer on what exactly they want.

    • jshort

      Maybe they should call Andy an ask his opinion. It’s been 14 yrs. since Jeffery had to do this, seems he forgot. The other two have no clue

      • Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran

        Once Lurie would get Andy on the phone, Andy would probably end up convincing Lurie to hire him again (“I can turn over the KC job to my trusty assistant, Juan, to handle.”).

  • nopain23

    not thrilled about this at all. if we are going to hire a confrontational college coach why not just hire the guy who just gutted Kelly and his team instead. I’m not saying you hire Saban but surely it’s better than hire the guy he just knocked around.

    What’s up with McCoy??.. Lurie really must not be impressed by that guy although he has the credentials and potential to be a helluva a good coach. I’ll keep repeating myself. Give me the guy who game plans against NLF not NCAA defenses.

    • TommyLawlor

      Saban doesn’t want to leave Alabama. I’m sure Lurie would love to hire him.

    • jshort

      Looks like Kelly can’t win the big one….but than again there is parody in the NFL.

  • http://www.facebook.com/xbcsmith Brett Smith

    Brian Kelly can stay at ND for all I care.

  • http://twitter.com/deshawnbentley BG

    Expanding on the last topic… Tommy I would highly encourage switching from Disqus to Livefyre especially with such communal distaste towards the former.

    Also I prefer your original method of posting for many reasons that I am too lazy to type out atm

    • TommyLawlor

      I will look into the Livefyre system and see if that’s a good option. Never heard of it before.

      • bentheimmigrant

        Livefyre is what The Daily Beast uses. The site is glitchy and comments have a tendency to disappear – but I don’t know if that’s Livefyre or the site itself.

    • http://twitter.com/alex_karklins Alex Karklins

      FWIW, I really don’t have a problem with Disqus.

  • Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran

    Just spotted this quote from DMac last week – sounding more true now:
    The current tour of Eagles brass to interview head-coaching candidates
    “seems like you’re just grabbing names out of a hat,” the NFL Network
    analyst said on Comcast SportsNet’s Daily News Live.

    • BobSmith77

      If they keep cycling through guys and end interviewing another 3-4 guys it certainly sounds like DMac was right.

  • westy36

    Seeing how many different coaches the Eagles have been tied to somehow just gives me the feeling that the person they really want is still in the playoffs. Feels like they have somebody they really would like to sign, but since they can’t yet, they are just interviewing a wide range of coaches to see if someone else really blows them away.

    • Steag209

      My thoughts exactly

    • http://twitter.com/FrenchEagles FrenchEagles

      I would think Mike McCoy. He has a lot of qualities, the first being what was the ultimate default of Reid: adapting to personnel.

    • http://twitter.com/RIPworms RIP Worms

      This makes the most sense to me. So the question becomes which teams do we start rooting against? Seems safe to root against at least Denver and Seattle for now.

    • D3Keith

      This exactly.

  • jshort

    Just saw on twitter they’re bringing in Rip Van Winkle; he’s well rested and ready to go.

    Think that tweet came from my mother though.

  • SteveH

    Well I guess we’re going to have to hire someone right? Kelly and Gruden not leaving, so those are two top options down. A second tier guy looking more and more likely.
    Tommy you should look into getting a chat room or something for events, ie the draft, during games, etc. I’d love to see some live action Tommy Lawlor analysis during the draft, eat it Mel Kiper!

    • D3Keith

      There’s an idea!

  • austinfan

    I think people need to relax, they’re obviously interviewing a lot of people, and this process is about networking (both for the future, and with HCs of major colleges who can help with the draft), getting outside perspectives on the organization and personnel, and hoping to find the proverbial “diamond in the rough,” the interview that blows their socks off and makes a decision a no brainer.

    They have a couple weeks, free agency isn’t until March 12, the draft until April, there hasn’t been a run on coaches, so there’s no real urgency right now.

    If we get to February without a decision, then it’s time to hit the panic button.

    • Cliff

      Agreed.

    • Anders

      I love that the Eagles are taking there time and interviewing all sort of different candidates.

    • D3Keith

      Very wise post.

  • Davesbeard

    The reports seem to strongly suggest he has no intention of actually leaving ND but is looking for an extension and pay bump.

    I don’t like the idea of a confrontational head coach, as Tommy has said multiple times, you have to a unique personality like Jimmy Johnson to pull it off and even he burnt out.

    • Iskar36

      I actually have no issue with a confrontational head coach. I think the “likeable” head coach thing is highly overrated. Some of the best coaches in the league are hated by their players (and some others are loved). I just don’t think that likeability is a significant indicator of how good or bad a coach will be. Having said that, if the coach is going to be confrontational, he has to be able to do it by pushing the right buttons (just like a likeable coach has to be able to get players to respect him rather than take advantage of him). With Brian Kelly, his lack of NFL experience means we have no idea if his confrontational style will work with NFL players the same way it works on college football players. There are a lot of differences with those players and Kelly may rub people the wrong way in the NFL.

  • http://twitter.com/benjabad Ben Hert

    It would be so deliciously bittersweet to see ND lose their coach and watching them return to irrelevance, but at the same time, I haven’t seen enough from Kelly to think he can have an sustained success in the NFL.

  • http://www.facebook.com/daniel.n.richwine Daniel Norman Richwine

    Tommy, please give us your thoughts on the eagles search process. I can’t get a good feel for what they are up to, they seem to he interviewing everyone and their brother. I can’t believe Lurie doesn’t have a plan, but what are they up to?

  • Ark87

    Can’t get Bill O’Brien or Chip Kelly, so we shall combine them to become the ultimate coach. BRIAN KELLY

    • A_T_G

      Oh if only we had been longing for Chip Kelly and Dennis Green…

      • D3FB

        Dennis Kelly could totally be a player coach.

        • Ark87

          O-linemen are pretty smart, and i bet he can scare the piss out of people…or at least small children. That’s half the battle! His DC could be Derek Landri, who can chase people with his helmet when they get out of line, roid rage style (poor Clay Harbor curls into a ball whenever Derek picks up a helmet these days).

          • D3FB

            Kelly was blessed with incredible size and solid athleticism but the big guy did not give him model good looks to say the least.

        • The_Reddgie

          I was thinking Chip Green, sounds like the perfect backup QB who could seamlessly convert from player to coach.

          And it is a great golf name.

  • http://twitter.com/MFlicker Mike Flick

    I was the defensive coordinator for a 6th grade team. Our innovative 5 – 3 shut down the Katy Patriots.

    I expect the Eagles to call and perform their “Due Diligence” soon.

    • TommyLawlor

      Good luck, coach.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1514128048 Kristopher Cebula

        they did beat a team called the patriots. that’s a start

  • ceteris_paribus1776

    Can we define what we mean by confrontational coach? Then can we compare that to other coaches in the NFL who would be defined as confrontational? For example Cowher and coughlin would be defined by almost anyone as confrontationall yet they have three Superbowl wins between them. I don’t think being confrontational is necessarily the issue.

  • A_T_G

    So, there will be no more malarkey going on in Jacksonville.

    That adds another seat to the musical chairs game, another available coach I imagine we don’t want, and possibly a Greg Roman suitor, according to PFT.

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/10/jaguars-fire-mike-mularkey-after-one-season/

  • Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran

    Next up for an interview: Juan Castillo (“Juan not”?)

  • The_Reddgie

    I feel like our next HC almost has to be a proven QB whisperer, and if not the HC, then absolutely the next OC^. As difficult as it is to win the SB, it is exponentially more difficult to do so without a great to elite QB. Given B Kelly’s lack of track record there, I would keep shopping. If he had a plan to bring in a QB coach who has had success with current NFL QBs, then I would give him due consideration. If not, then no way.

    ^ I prefer a HC QB whisperer over an OC QB whisperer because if the OC QBW does a great job with Foles, or whomever our next QBotF project is, he will be heavily pursued by other organizations to be their next HC and will end up leaving (and probably sooner rather than later) and then we will be in a situation where we will have to find another QBW to take over where the previous one left off. If the HC is a QBW, he is less likely to be wooed away if he starts experiencing success as he will already be the top dog.