Bill Belichick critical of Eagles for firing Chip Kelly, defends his personnel moves

Bill Belichick criticized the Eagles for firing Chip Kelly, even defending his record as GM.

Belichick was asked in his Thursday press conference if he paid attention to coaching changes this time of year, and he was surprisingly forthcoming, even zeroing in on Chip Kelly.

“Yeah, I would say it’s really disappointing,” Belichick said. “I mean Chip Kelly to me is a really good football coach. I think he does a great job. I think he’s done a good job with that team. It’s disappointing to see.”

Belichick went further, decrying how little time coaches get to work in today’s NFL.

“Or Josh [McDaniels] in Denver – there are a lot of examples but pretty much everybody is on a one-year contract in this league,” Belichick continued. “I don’t know how you build a program in one year.”

Belichick dropped the mic with a surprising defense of Kelly’s personnel moves.

“Chip is a great coach. He’ll end up somewhere and he’ll do a great job there,” Belichick said. “I’d say a lot of the players that were on the Eagles that are no longer on the Eagles aren’t really doing too much for anybody else, either.”

Belichick makes an interesting point, and there might be something to it. The problem is the guys that Kelly brought in didn’t really perform, either, and if you’re going to jettison that much talent, you’d better make sure the replacements are up to par. They weren’t, and that’s a big reason why Kelly doesn’t have a job anymore.

H/T SB Nation