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The Philadelphia Eagles surprised everyone on Tuesday evening by releasing Chip Kelly. So what made Eagles CEO and Chariman Jeffrey Lurie, who has shown great patience with head coaches in the past (ex: Andy Reid), pull the trigger on this decision? There are multiple reasons, according to media reports.
1) Chip Kelly lost support from his players
Among the things DeMarco Murray told owner Jeffrey Lurie weeks ago was that he had no confidence in Chip Kelly as head coach, I'm told.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2015
Im told #eagles owner Jeff Lurie had been getting players input on Chip Kelly. Obviously not good feedback on the coach. @FOX29philly
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) December 30, 2015
A report from ESPN earlier this season indicated Kelly was in danger of losing the locker room. Most dismissed the report at the time, but it's now clear this was a real issue. Kelly's relationship with his players was often drawn into question during his time in Philadelphia. For a player to tell the team's owner they have no confidence in the coach, well ... that's pretty damning.
2) Chip Kelly didn't want to give up his power
Per Sal Paolantonio Lurie wanted to strip Chip Kelly of personnel control. Chip balked. Lurie fired him.
— Kevin Winter (@KevinPWinter) December 30, 2015
also hearing Chip Kelly not happy about losing control of personel which hear part of conversation. Make no mistake Lurie made up his mind.
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) December 30, 2015
This also makes sense. Kelly earned control over the team's player personnel department when he beat out former Eagles general manager Howie Roseman in a power struggle earlier this year. Kelly's poor personnel moves set up the team to fail in 2015. It appears Lurie wanted to take his power away but Kelly wasn't going to agree to that.
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If these reports are true, it's hard to say Lurie made the wrong call.
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UPDATE: More details on Kelly's dismissal.
Hearing that Jeffrey Lurie had a meeting with Chip Kelly today that didn't go well. A decision was then made to fire him in the afternoon.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) December 30, 2015