Troy Aikman thinks Philadelphia Eagles gave up on Chip Kelly too soon
Chip Kelly is coaching a team on the other side of the country, but he’s still a huge topic of discussion here in Philadelphia.
Despite the Eagles looking toward the offseason with new coach Doug Pederson, the subject of Kelly’s firing resurfaced today on “Breakfast on Broad,” when host Rob Ellis asked Troy Aikman what he thought of the former coach’s sudden departure.
“I really believe we’ll look back on this and we’ll say Philadelphia gave up on him too soon,” Aikman said, noting that Kelly influenced the game even before entering the NFL and was a great hire by the 49ers.
“The fact that you can win 10 games in back-to-back years, be in the hunt for a division title… tells me there was a lot more to this than just what happened on the field,” Aikman said. “There must’ve been a lot going on behind the scenes that I’m unfamiliar with.”
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There are a lot of rumors about personality conflicts (one report centered on Kelly battling Lurie over the annual holiday party), but one thing we know for certain is Lurie was eager to move on from Kelly, and even started looking for his replacement before the team was eliminated from playoff contention last season.
“That research started during the season, at some point late in the season,” Lurie said, “and it gave us some time to – if we needed to go this direction – be fully prepared for the search process.”
There were also problems between Kelly and executive VP Howie Roseman. Daily News columnist Marcus Hayes points out that, despite being relegated to financial negotiations and decisions by Lurie after Kelly’s coup, Roseman continued to scout players and bragged about watching game tape.
“I never kind of stayed out of not watching,” Roseman told reporters at the Senior Bowl. “Always was interested in watching guys and keeping up.”
Even Kelly brought up friction he had to deal with behind the scenes, telling reporters wryly that he was “struck by the synergy” in the 49ers’ building.