PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — What determines success? When is it decided whether or not the tenure of an NFL head coach was a failure? Whose opinion matters when weighing the value of a head coach’s impact on his team and the league?
These are all fair questions when considering the career of one of the most electric college football coaches to make the jump to the NFL — Chip Kelly — who did so with the Eagles a decade ago.
Leaving the collegiate level for the NFL isn’t for everyone, and time after time, coaches fail on football’s biggest stage, just like the players. Looking back, some may remember Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia positively, especially after he took a 4-12 team and produced two 10-6 seasons in a row, returning Philadelphia to the postseason.
Most Eagles fans seem to remember Kelly’s three seasons in Philadelphia as a train wreck — from his questionable and controversial personnel moves, to his rocky final season in 2015.
But for NFL insiders, the view on Kelly is a little more nuanced.
Kelly took over for Andy Reid after the Eagles went 4-12 in 2012, and he oversaw an immediate turnaround: The Eagles went 10-6 in Kelly’s first season and reached the playoffs.
Taking over for a coach who had been with a franchise for 13 seasons wouldn't be easy for anyone. And bringing an up-tempo offensive game plan, the likes of which has never been seen in the NFL, is sure to draw attention.
Right off the bat, Kelly’s predecessor took notice.
“I thought the thing he did was very bright in some of the spread ideas. I liked spreading the field out the way he did and getting everybody involved,” former Eagles head coach Andy Reid said of Kelly, adding that he thought his replacement’s offensive schemes “helped introduce” new ways of coaching to the entire NFL.
After Kelly's takeover, players soon found themselves getting hands-on experience with his new form of offense.
“It was a change. It was going from Coach Reid, who was just very, like, systematic — it was so different. I kind of fell in love with [Reid’s] style. And then to go to Chip, it was just like, ‘Wow, this is vastly different,'" former Eagles tight end Clay Harbor said.
“There would be some pushback from guys,” said former Eagles Head Athletic Trainer Chris Peduzzi, "like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ We weren’t trying to find out who went out last night or who was hungover or whatever. It wasn’t about that. It was about how we could figure out how to further training for practice and performance. How to make it that much better. But I think some of that, looking back on it, we didn’t do a good enough job at the time, all the time explaining why we were doing it.”
Listen to ‘unCovering the Birds’ Episode Three: Chip Kelly - Part I: The Rise
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