With Chip Kelly, Eagles inputting new direction, not fancy scheme

The way the Eagles look at it, its not about Chip Kelly trying to make his offense work in the NFL.It goes way deeper than that.Its about Kelly bringing an entire philosophy and vision to a franchise in desperate need of a fresh approach.Is his offense going to translate to the NFL? When you meet with Chip, you realize very quickly that Chip is not about whether his offense is going to translate to the NFL, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Thursday.Its about his vision for a program. Its about how he sees the entire aspect of a football organization.And so if you had any doubt about Chip Kellys offense, you left his interview and said, This isnt about Chip Kelly and the spread, this is about how Chip Kelly approaches football, and that was incredibly, incredibly impressive.Roseman said that was one of the biggest takeaways from Kellys initial nine-hour interview with the Eagles back on Jan. 5.That his vision went far beyond just being a bright offensive mind and trying to tailor his breathless, warp-drive spread offense that led Oregon to a 46-7 record in four years at Oregon.It was about truly becoming the CEO of a football team.I cant stress enough that this isnt just about Chip Kelly as an offensive mind, Roseman said. I think that it was very important for us to know. That it wasnt just about taking his scheme and coming here, becauseif its just that particular schemeand then if that doesnt work, then a coach isnt going to be successful.You sat down with him very quickly and you knew this wasnt just about his scheme at Oregon. This was about his vision, his direction of a football program and where he wanted to go at every level.You could ask him about any part of this organization and he had a vision for it. And to us, that was the biggest factor.
The Eagles named Kelly head coach on Wednesday, nine days after he announced he was returning to coach at Oregon following interviews with the Browns, Bills and Eagles.As for his offense, Kelly said it isnt about having a running quarterback and isnt about throwing the ball 90 percent of the time and isnt about any particular formation or alignment or pass pattern.Its about scoring. And how he tries to score depends on his personnel.Im not married to whether we have to do this, he said of the spread he ran at Oregon. Im an equal opportunity scorer, and well score any way we can.
Its all based on what our personnel is. Im not married to try to take a quarterback who cant run and make him run, and a quarterback who cant throw and make him throw. Its putting your players in the best position you can to be successful and how you can score points.Thats what the offensive game of football is all about is scoring points, and how they get the ball across the line isnt the deal. Its not about style, its about substance and how we score points.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said he was impressed with Kellys overall knowledge of football and his knowledge of multiple systems and not just what Oregon has been doing.He spoke of Kellys intelligence and ability to stay on the cutting edge of trends in football, both on the college and professional level.When listing Kellys strengths, Lurie didnt even mention the innovative high-octane offense he ran in Eugene. Thats not why they hired him.Tremendous obsession of football, an outstanding work ethic, ability to relate and communicate, intellect off the charts, forward thinking not just about what he is running at Oregon but where the league is headed and where college is headed, Lurie said. Just somebody who is on the cutting edge of football today. Also, someone who was a program builder. Thats important because it shows the best possible leader. Chip brings everyone together at Oregon culturally in preparing themselves to be the best football players they can be. Organizationally, he just had it all.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.