It’s hard to say what the overall fan view on Chip’s firing is as there’s such a wide variety of answers. Most feel it was a long time coming but are quick to acknowledge that there are a lot of other factors that people seem to overlook. Whilst it was probably best for the Eagles to get Chip out of Philly..there are undoubtedly going to be consequences..and these are the biggest five.
5) Commanding someone elses army
Over the past two years the Eagles have very much become the house that Chip built. With stars being shown the door in exchange for players who have performed far short of expectations, the roster whilst messy is one that has been built to run, practice and play to the pace of the fastest team in the league. As players have already alluded to, that takes it’s toll..but what happens if an entirely different gameplan is introduced? Will the players be able to slow down again? Is this roster capable of playing under a more balanced approach? The answers will tend to lean towards “obviously” but nobody knows how much of a toll this has taken on the team more than the players themselves..and commanding someone elses army isn’t exactly going to be easy, especially with the range of emotions, confidence levels and overall morale..it could be a long road ahead.
4) The second purge
Following on from our first point, we wrote an article recently detailing the Eagles contract situation heading into the off-season, if you missed it here’s a brief reminder.
12 players are set to head into free-agency at the end of this year and with players like Sam Bradford who might well have proven themselves under Chip Kelly set to follow that path, there’s no real assurance that the new coach will have the same feelings or attitude. Perhaps he will want to bring in his own Quarterback..or sign his own receivers..there could well be a second roster purge in as many years in Philadelphia. As the contracts of Riley Cooper and a few more we won’t mention tick over another year..the new coach may also not be as accepting of sub-par performances or simply average players.
3) More pressure
The Eagles fans are the most passionate in the NFL if not the world. All they want is to win..they’ve waited generations to lift their first Lombardi Trophy and as Lurie pointed out in his press conference the other day, the Eagles have only had three coaches in the last 20 years…but next year, they would have had three coaches in the last five. This undoubtedly brings a lot of pressure to whoever is in charge. Philadelphia is an electric city, a touch city where losing just isn’t an option if you’re to make a name for yourself. As the years go by and the faces forever change, the pressure only builds on whoever is at the helm as impatience will begin to run through the veins of fans and owners alike.
2) Out of the pan and into the fire
It’s fair to say that Chip Kelly’s demise wasn’t ALL his fault. Sure he made the decisions, made the same predictable plays week in and week out and has to be held accountable for the actions of his players but when you have 40 drops, a running back controversy, an inconsistent Defense that loses big names and a team that just can’t seem to execute (god I sound like Chip) you have to feel like the players did play some kind of part in the bigger picture. We’re not making excuses..at all, we’re just as content with the firing as most but who’s to say the new coach won’t step in and encounter the same problems minus the play-calling? What if the team end up performing worse than they did this season due to a transition period that in theory didn’t really need to happen? It’s a bold statement to fire Chip just as it was to hire him..we can only hope it plays out as hoped this time.
1) A panic decision
It’s the week before the final game of the season, days before the end of the year and the Eagles fire their head-coach. It caught the world by surprise..not because they didn’t think the move would happen but because it happened so soon. Something sparked it and with rumours constantly popping up about Roseman “poisoning the water” and Kelly not really giving up much of a fight to keep his job, it does make you wonder. It doesn’t look like Chip was offered a scenario of losing his GM role and retaining that of being a head coach..the mood was obvious from when he walked into the room and with no room for negotiation it looks from the outside as if this was a pre-determined decision. But why was Chip fired so soon? Would the damage of firing him days before the teams final game carry over into the off-season and potentially the year after? This kind of decision is one that impacts the future of the entire franchise and cannot be underestimated. If the Eagles do not find the perfect replacement for Chip after such a rollercoaster period then this could backfire massively and the Eagles could well become the next team to endure a coaching carousel out of sheer impatience and desperation for success.
