By Lewis Gould
There was a flurry of activity in what passes for the mainstream media in Philly last week:
Seattle coach Pete Carroll stuck up for Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s plan to make the Birds a Super Bowl contender.
This is not news.
A fellow member of the NFL’s 32-strong fraternity of coaches says something nice about another.
Happens all the time.
In journalism it’s called dog bites man.
In other words, not very newsworthy.
But the reason the Carroll quotes got so much traction is that there is still a firm belief among the Ray Didinger/Angelo Cataldi/Glen Macnow set that Kelly is going to fail and that he will head back to coach in college just as soon as Long Beach State makes him an offer.
Which is bullshit.
The above-named “experts” are still judging the digital Kelly by the standards of the analog Andy Reid, the slow-talking, slow-walking, slow-thinking Eagles boss who somehow lasted 14 years.
A rash of unpredictable offseason moves has caused many Eagles fans to question the acumen and/or sanity of Kelly. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes they shouldn’t worry. Instead, Carroll thinks they should be the opposite of worried.
“I think the people in Philadelphia should be very excited about the changes that are coming,” Carroll said at the league meetings in Arizona, via CSNPhilly.com. “Maybe they can’t see it — the vision is not clear to them. Chip knows what he’s doing. It’s going to be interesting to see.”
It’s definitely going to be interesting. It could be interesting, however, and disastrous. Carroll is far more optimistic.
“His record and his history has proven that he knows what he’s doing and that he has his act together,” Carroll said of Kelly. “I know he’s really excited to have the opportunity to be in the position to mold the team. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that he’s not on it. He knows what he wants and what he needs. He’s proven that.”
Kelly took the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season with the team, but failed to return in 2014 — despite finishing with a 10-6 record. Another failure to qualify for the postseason will place even more pressure on Kelly for what could be a make-or-break season in 2016.
