Does Chip Kelly Deserve Credit for the Eagles 2017 Championship?
Chip Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia was controversial, to say the least. During his time in the city of brotherly love, he coached the team to two ten-win seasons, reconstructed the team's culture, and replaced the general manager, only to collapse in his third season, burning bridges and being ousted by the owner before the season even ended. His methods were different and didn’t translate from college football to the NFL. He believed the personnel didn’t matter, as long as they fit his scheme. He treated the team like children and took the joy out of the locker room. Although his immediate effect was negative, his long-term effects of the moves he made contributed to the Super Bowl winning team of 2017.
Chip Kelly was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, after the epic failure of the “Dream Team” under Andy Reid in 2012. Chip Kelly was known as an offensive mastermind at Oregon and only would take the position of head coach in Philadelphia under certain conditions.
He wanted to select his coaching staff and have a say in the team's personnel selection, which ultimately created a power struggle in the front office between him and the current general manager, Howie Roseman. After two successful ten win seasons, Chip Kelly emphasized that the Eagles weren’t going to go any further into the playoffs unless he obtained full control of the player personnel decisions, which the eagle's owner, Jeffrey Lurie, granted, demoting Roseman to a smaller role working the team’s finances.
Michael Perez/AP Photo
Before his third season Chip Kelly’s team demolition began with getting rid of all of the team’s brightest stars, only for players that fit his scheme. All-Pro receiver DeSean Jackson was cut. Nick Foles was traded for SamBradford, arguably the most overpaid player in NFL history. LeSean McCoy, the Eagles all-time leading rusher, was traded for an average outside linebacker, Kiko Alonso, who was a former Oregon player under Kelly. He also shipped away long-time Eagles Jeremy Maclin, Todd Herremans, Trent Cole, and Cary Williams. One move at a time he destroyed the team’s roster and chemistry, showing players they were replaceable and expendable. During his time as a coach, players felt like a part of an engine instead of a member of the team. The team ultimately plummeted and cruised to a dismal seven-win, nine-loss season, decimating any hopes of a stable future, as all of their skill position players were traded.
Furthermore, the keys to the Ferrari went back into Roseman’s hands, and Chip Kelly left a catastrophe in his wake as he was kicked out of the door. Yet, through all of the destruction, there was a small window for success, the quarterback class in the upcoming draft was solid and there was no reason not to trade whatever’s left for the Eagle’s next franchise player. The Eagles ultimately traded away a small fortune worth of draft picks to obtain Carson Wentz, who eventually led the Eagles to an 11-1 record in 2017 as the leading MVP candidate for most of the season.
Roseman made productive and high-value trades from some of what Chip Kelly left behind, obtaining a first-round pick for Sam Bradford before the start of Wentz’s rookie campaign. Without the roster being torn down and the poor season under Chip Kelly, Roseman would not have had the chance to swing for the fences in the draft, and he hit. In the offseason, Roseman ultimately chose Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson, partly because of his obvious differing coaching style from Chip Kelly, as he wanted a player’s coach instead of a system coach.
If the Eagles had gone on to win another ten games and an early playoff exit in Kelly’s tenure, they might still have Sam Bradford as the quarterback and Chip Kelly as head coach. Roseman may have never taken the wheel again and they would have continued to play it safe in the draft, never getting Carson Wentz, and without a doubt never re-signing Nick Foles. Kelly’s mistakes were crucial to forging the path the Eagles needed to take to make themselves a contender.
Additionally, Chip Kelly had made a plethora of personnel movements, ridding the team of talent and adding big contracts with low production. Although his moves for immediate production always faltered, many of his drafted prospects were integral contributors to the Eagles in their Super Bowl run and some still are today. Under Chip Kelly, the Eagles acquired Lane Johnson, Jordan Hicks, Zach Ertz, Bennie Logan, and Nelson Agholor in the draft. All these players were key contributors for the Eagles in 2017, three of which were pro bowlers. Lane Johnson is considered one of the best right tackles in all of football and last season Zach Ertz caught more passes than any other tight end in NFL history. All in all, his immediate impact on the team in player acquisition was horrid, but in the days long after Chip Kelly’s departure, his fingerprints happen to be all over the Eagles Super Bowl winning roster.
Chip Kelly was a horrible NFL coach. He decimated the Eagle's roster and front office, created one of the worst locker room cultures in recent memory, and left the franchise with no stable players that could immediately produce. Chip Kelly did leave some key young players behind, as key players and pro-bowlers became crucial members of an eventual championship roster. In the aftermath of his departure, Howie Roseman was able to get a second chance at building the roster from scratch and had every reason to try and bring a talented top prospect to the team. Without Kelly's tenure as the Eagles head coach, the birds would never have had some key players or the opportunity to go after Carson Wentz or any other top-tier quarterback talent.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
All this being said makes it more clear why Howie Roseman has had a tumultuous run as the Eagles’ General Manager after his perfect season in 2017. His draft picks never panned out, and the stars that were on the team were not drafted by him. His ability to construct a team through the draft has never been in higher question than now in the 2021 offseason, and it is becoming more and more obvious that Roseman doesn’t have the ability to scout talent. Looking back at Chip Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia, it highlights how bad Roseman is in the draft, as well as his personnel moves. Since Roseman has taken over, Philadelphia has won a Super Bowl, traded their franchise quarterback, and once again gutted the coaching staff. It is clear that a lot of the credit from that championship run belongs to Chip Kelly instead of Howie Roseman.
Whether Eagles fans like it or not the Chip Kelly era is one of the most important contributing factors to the Eagle's championship run in 2017.
