Tom Byrne
Editor’s note: Tom Byrne is a weekly Philly Influencer contributor and sports radio host on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio and NBA Radio. He started at SiriusXM in 2013 after hosting “The Tom Byrne Show” on 97.5 The Fanatic.
I have been asked one question locally more than any other over the last few months: Should Chip Kelly have been fired? The clear answer is no!
Kelly won 20 games in his first two years after taking over a team that went 4-12 in Andy Reid’s final campaign. Keep in mind; this was a team that lost on average by 10 points per game. He had a top five offense in each of his first two seasons. What’s more? He did it with quarterbacks named Michael Vick*, Mark Sanchez and Nick Foles. Kelly went 14-5 with Foles*. In case you didn’t know, Foles had the 32nd best QBR in the NFL for the Rams this past season.
If you don’t think Chip can coach, you’re blind. Let’s get one thing straight about Oregon. It’s not Notre Dame*. It’s not Alabama. It’s not Ohio State. It’s not Florida State. It’s not even USC. It’s Oregon in a little Podunk town with minimal winning tradition. Nobody outside the state of Oregon cares. Kelly, though, had a .868 winning percentage scoring an FBS-best 44.7 points-per-game. His Ducks teams averaged over 500 yards per game while possessing the football an FBS-low 27:25 on average.
If you want to tell me he’s not a great general manager, I won’t argue with you. He let guys who seemingly fit his system go too early. Everyone discussed the losses of DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy but I’d argue the decision to neglect the guard position was just as egregious. This was a big part of why the Eagles consistently ran DeMarco Murray outside the tackles*. I also hated the decision to let Jeremy Maclin walk in free agency.
Kelly also failed to relate to his players. I get it. However, are we now going to act like every team loves its head coach? Do you think Kobe and the Lakers loved Phil Jackson at all times*? How about the Patriots when they weren’t yet the Patriots*? I’ll live if Brandon Boykin doesn’t get a “hey how ya doin?” from the coach every time he walks down the hall.
It’s not easy for an innovator to make inroads. Many knowledgeable former players, coaches and analysts condemned the hiring of Chip before the 2013 season. The common refrain being that the up-tempo, spread-option offense had no chance to succeed at the NFL level. Those same critics were silenced after the first two season of Chip’s regime. Even this past season, with the plethora of personnel issues, the Eagles finished in the top half of the league in both points and yards.
When Mike D’Antoni tried to implement his pace and space oriented “7 seconds or less” offense in the NBA in the ‘90’s he too was mocked. Although D’Antoni did not win a title with Phoenix*, he can be considered the godfather of today’s prominent pace and space style of play. Ten years ago if you would have predicted the league would be dominated by a team that often times has one big man on the court at a time you would have been laughed at. The fact is the Warriors were the first NBA team to win a title playing small ball. Now, most teams are looking to play the same system.
I’m not saying 90% percent of the NFL will be running Chip’s system in ten years but I am telling you this system can and will work in the league. Especially considering the type of athletic ability most quarterbacks coming from college possess these days. I’d say Russell Wilson and Cam Newton may be the best young gun-slingers in the league. Do you think they’d be okay in the spread offense? How about Marcus Mariota or Clemson’s DeShaun Watson when he comes out?
So who replaces Chip? Is it Tom Coughlin with his two rings? Nope. It’s an Andy Reid disciple named Doug Pederson. The same Doug Pederson who watched as his Chiefs offense embarrassed itself due to terrible clock management in Kansas City’s AFC Divisional Round loss to New England.
“I’ll tell you — I’ll even go back a little bit further. I was able to call plays [this season] really since the Pittsburgh game on, if you follow the Kansas City Chiefs.” Said Pederson at his Eagles introductory press conference. “ Coach Reid and I had a great understanding and a great feel for the game. He allowed me to call the second half of every football game from that Steeler game on. The second half of our playoff game the other night, I had the second half. I did have the second half and so I called the entire second half at that point.”
“It took us time because No. 1, we did not want to give [Patriots QB] Tom Brady the ball back. We knew we were going to score. We knew we had timeouts and time. We were also limited with the number of receivers; we had [Chiefs WR] Jeremy Maclin out of the game at the time. We were down numbers. We felt like at that point, not to give the ball back to Tom Brady. We still had timeouts and time, even with the onside kick, to put ourselves in a position to tie the football game.”
Um, what!?
Are we really sure we want to turn the clock back to the Andy Reid days? That’s what Jeffrie Lurie has done. Meanwhile, Chip lands in San Francisco. Two or three years from now when we here in Philly are still looking for our first Super Bowl winning team since 1960 and calling for Pederson’s firing, I fear Chip will have the 49ers rolling. Oh well. I guess that’s life as a Philly fan.
Footnotes:
*Vick was past his prime. Wait. Are we sure he had a prime?
*14-5 with Nick Foles! How many other coaches could do that? Go ahead and name them. I’ll wait. Sean Brace will have hair before you can name more than two.
*You knew I would make the Notre Dame reference first. Didn’t you? It doesn’t matter that the Irish don’t have a National Championship since ’88!
*This and the fact that Murray couldn’t wait to run out of bounds.
*Jackson wrote a book called The Last Season in which he repeatedly ripped Bryant for being immature and even said he wasn’t entirely surprised Kobe was accused of rape! And, this was before his second stint in LA with Bryant!
*You know before they cheated their way to 4 rings. Actually I don’t believe that. However, if you don’t think Tom Brady knew about air being taken out of the footballs you’re a moron.
*If the Amar’e Stoudemire/Boris Diaw suspensions never happened in the ’07 postseason, maybe he would have.