So much for the Chip Kelly Era.
Eagles owner Jeff Lurie fired his head coach Tuesday with one game left in Kelly's third season.
Call it a 'Culture Crash.'
Kelly was all about 'culture.'
He stressed doing things in a hurry. Everything was up tempo. Sports science became the new mantra around the NovaCare Center. Kelly monitored everything about what his players did, monitoring their sleep, ordering special smoothies to enhance their diets.
Those who did not buy in soon found themselves shipping out.
Just ask DeSean Jackson. Or LeSean McCoy. Or Evan Mathis.
It worked in year one, with Kelly providing a jolt of life to the carcass of a team left by Andy Reid. Kelly reversed the fortunes of the franchise, going 10-6 in his first year, winning the NFC East, but losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Year Two marked a step back for Kelly's 'culture.' Sure, the team went 10-6 again, but after sitting at 9-3 after demolishing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, the Eagles unexpectedly went belly up, losing three straight and missing the playoffs.
Kelly decided the answer was more 'culture' - and more power. He pulled a power play, getting Lurie to go along with his push for more control over personnel, in the process pushing Howie Roseman aside in the front office. Then he took a blow torch to the lineup that failed to make the playoffs.
Quarterback Nick Foles was dispatched to the Rams for Sam Bradford. A dream to somehow acquire his old Oregon buddy Marcus Mariota in the draft never materialized. In a move that left many scratching their heads, Kelly exiled the team's all-time leading rusher LeSean McCoy to the Bills for Kiko Alonso. On the offensive line, guard Todd Herremans was sent packing. Evan Mathis, who had the temerity to challenge Kelly, soon found himself an ex-Eagle.
Kelly soon learned what most already knew. Culture is no match for talent.
His squad was bereft of talent, and despite some glittering preseason moments, the season got off to a shaky start in Atlanta and it's been a bumpy ride ever since.
It's one thing to lose to good teams. This year's Eagles under Kelly developed a most annoying habit - getting blown out by what most consider to be mediocre NFL franchises.
So what does that make the Eagles.
Amazingly, still a good team, according to the coach at his Monday press conference.
It was the latest in an increasingly bizarre series of stances taken by Kelly, including insisting that he is not in fact the team's general manager.
One thing we know now - he's not the coach either.
Lurie made sure of that, dropping the hammer late Tuesday.
Why remains something of a mystery, especially the timing. It is not exactly in Lurie's 'culture' to make such a drastic move.
The guess here is that Kelly left him little choice. It doesn't take much to see that Lurie likely confronted Kelly with the personnel moves that doomed this team, and informed him he might be losing some of that power. Kelly probably told him he had no interest in sharing the throne. Thus the wording of the statement put out by the Eagles that Kelly had been 'released.' As opposed to being fired.
Maybe the most interesting thing to come out of the fallout from all this is the reaction of some players, who did not exactly make it a secret that they were not Kelly's biggest fans.
Now Lurie faces the arduous task of rebuilding what Kelly tore apart. He will need the one thing in fairly short supply in Philadelphia. That would be patience.
The Chip Kelly Era is over.
And a culture of defeat - one so familiar to a franchise that has insisted at times on referring to itself as the 'gold standard,' although without a single championship to show for it - hangs heavy on the franchise.
We'll hear from Lurie at noon.
Let the culture of rebuilding begin.
Again.
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