PHIL ’ER UP: Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly meets the media yesterday as new coach of the Eagles. (Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA — Chip Kelly was introduced as coach of the Eagles yesterday amid much excitement, but with questions still lingering and the prospect of a very short honeymoon period.
Fresh off his shocking about-face decision Wednesday to leave Oregon for the NFL, Andy Reid’s successor took over knowing full well his turbocharged college offense will have to produce results quickly to win over one of the league’s toughest fan bases.
“I probably took a lot longer with this decision than some people wanted me to take, but it’s where I wanted to be,” Kelly said at a standing-room-only news conference at the Eagles’ headquarters near Lincoln Financial Field as a fan stood outside with a sign reading “Our Chip’s Come In.”
Kelly’s arrival, carrying a five-year deal thought to be worth roughly $30 million, culminated a roller coaster-like search that included 11 candidate interviews and Kelly deciding to stay at Oregon two weeks ago before suddenly — and still mysteriously — having a change of heart as the Eagles seemed ready to hire Gus Bradley instead.
Bradley, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator, ended up as coach of the Jaguars after Kelly signaled his renewed interest to Eagles general manager Howie Roseman last weekend through a mutual friend and Roseman refused to let up.
“It’s an exciting day for the Eagles and an exciting day for the city of Philadelphia,” Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said of Kelly, a 49-year-old New Hampshire native who started his coaching career at Columbia. “We’d studied Chip for a long, long time, and everything we’d ever heard was so true.”
Even so, Lurie admitted the Eagles — still smarting from Kelly’s earlier snub — weren’t sure Kelly would be coming even after he agreed to the job yesterday morning.
“We were kind of holding our breath for two hours until he told his players [at Oregon],” Lurie said.
Kelly didn’t exactly clear up what caused him to change his mind other than to explicitly rule out fear of impending sanctions from a long-running NCAA investigation into recruiting violations by the Ducks’ program.
Kelly also caused a few heads to be scratched by claiming he was never close to accepting the Browns’ coaching job two weeks ago despite a nine-hour meeting and media reports lawyers had been brought in to close the deal.
“It was either Philadelphia or I was going back to Oregon,” Kelly said. “I knew this was the place for me. It was just a matter of figuring out how to do it the right way.”
The NCAA might have been a walk in the park for Kelly compared to Philadelphia’s famously difficult fans, though.
Kelly, who tried to win them over by referencing his admiration for the Wing Bowl — a beloved local chicken-wing eating contest — and naming several famous ex-Eagles, knows the microscope will be especially intense here.
Not only are the locals grumpy after Reid went 4-12 in his final season, but there are skeptics everywhere when it comes to a coach with no NFL experience bringing in a college offense that relies in large part on trying to trick opponents with a blazing pace and no huddle.
With running back LeSean McCoy and wideouts DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, the Eagles appear to have many of the speedy skill-position players in place to run Kelly’s system effectively.
Yet incumbent starting quarterback Nick Foles isn’t mobile at all, and Michael Vick — who can run, but is 33 and extremely injury-prone — appears unlikely to be brought back. Don’t forget the Eagles’ woeful defense, which was 29th in the league in yardage while allowing an NFL-worst 33 touchdowns in 2012.
But for one day, at least, Kelly was the toast of Philadelphia.
“It’s a special situation,” he said. “It’s an iconic franchise with a passionate, passionate owner and great people. I’m eager to get started.”