The 2015 campaign sure was an abysmal one for Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles, ultimately resulting in him being fired from his head coaching position. At the beginning of the season, it seemed like everybody had a different perspective on the former Oregon coach, who racked up 46 wins and two bowl victories in his tenure with the Ducks. Some believed that he is a football guru who knows the ins and outs of the game like the back of his hand. Others believed he was an arrogant moron who was trying to reinvent the wheel. But now, in 2016, it turns out that Chip is none of those things -- he's pretty much just unemployed.
Kelly's impressive record at Oregon may have gotten to his head, as he completely decimated Philadelphia's roster in an ill-fated attempt to bring in what he thought was the appropriate pieces. In early 2015, Kelly showed why it can be a challenge to play for him or to even respect him as a coach. He traded away fan favorites LeSean McCoy, Nick Foles, and Jeremy Maclin for then Dallas running back Demarco Murray, former Oregon linebacker Kiko Alonso, and an injury-prone Sam Bradford. Many speculated that he was willing to go through hell and back, rip his depth chart apart, and even lose the support of his own locker room just to be reunited with Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, who led Oregon to a National Championship the previous season.
Although that is just hearsay, it's a completely plausible explanation. But after Kelly's brief stint of success in the 2014-15 season, the Eagles have won only six games. And that is something that the Eagles organization will not tolerate -- losing.
Despite having an all-pro running back, a first round draft pick at quarterback, and numerous other weapons on the field, Philly just could not find its groove.
This is what Jason La Canfora (CBS News) dug up on the former Oregon coach's termination: "...So what else went wrong? Well, Kelly was losing people throughout the building, sources said, even outside of football operations. His autocratic tendencies got the best of him. His allies were few and far between. The idea that DeMarco Murray somehow led this charge is preposterous, I'm told, but in fact Lurie had begun having serious reservations a few weeks ago when he began reaching out to confidants about how to proceed and began doing research on the pool of potential candidates elsewhere. He started to doubt whether Kelly The Innovative Coach was quite smart enough to overcome Kelly The Personnel Demagogue."
Chip Kelly was fired not just because he was leading a losing franchise, but more exactly because the players didn't like him, the staff didn't like him, and his boss didn't like him.
