What Hiring Chip Kelly Would Really Mean For the Eagles

The rumors surrounding Chip Kelly becoming the next Eagles head coach are starting to heat up. Should Eagles fans be ecstatic about Kelly as the next Eagles head coach or should they be irate? First you have to fully understand what Kelly would bring to an NFL team. Kelly’s offense, especially when he adapts it to the NFL, will not be so simplistic that it has to be run be a running quarterback. His offense has always been based upon being aggressive, running the next play within 15 seconds after the previous play has ended, reading the safeties and deceiving the defense. What Kelly really needs for his offense to thrive is athletic offensive linemen who can get upfield and make blocks in the screen game, receivers who are quick but also can block, a slew of weapons in the backfield and a quarterback with an accurate arm. The Eagles have all the tools to make a Chip Kelly offense work. Nick Foles is comfortable enough in the shotgun to have a lot of success in his offense. He may not be a RGIII type quarterback, but his offenses are really based more on the skills of the running backs then the quarterback’s running ability. Kelly would take over an offense that would consist of Foles, Bryce Brown, LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis, Stanley Havili, Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and Jason Avant. He also receivers a pretty solid offensive line once everyone is healthy. Kelly is a smart coach and a great football mind. He worked his way up from the lower ranks of college coaching and has become the best offensive mind in college football. He isn’t going to run the exact same offense in the NFL and he will be able to adapt to his roster. What Kelly is really going to bring to the NFL is a faster offense that will wear you down by running more plays with less time between plays. That way the defense has less time to rest, less time to adjust before the snap and zero time to rotate players in and out. A faster, more aggressive offense is the main basis for a Chip Kelly offense. Everything else is flexible. More plays in the shotgun is expected, but not automatic. The fact remains that no one really knows exactly how Chip Kelly is going to run his offense in the NFL. He could hire an experienced offensive coordinator to run more of a pro style offense. Nobody will have much of an idea until preseason. What we do know about Kelly is that he is a very smart football mind who is going to do his homework before both building his coaching staff and developing his offense.