Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was pretty blunt in a press conference on Wednesday addressing the firing of Chip Kelly.
Lurie stated that Kelly lost his job because of mediocre performance and hinting that there were issues with personnel and dealing with players.
Lurie said that Kelly’s entire body of work was taking into account when the decision was made.
“Making significant changes, you can easily achieve mediocrity,” Lurie said, via CBS Philadelphia’s Andrew Porter. “I think it would be a shame not to try, but the end result was mediocrity. And as the owner of the team I’ve got to look at the progress and trajectory of where it’s headed. And it’s disappointing to me, but that is the danger when you take a risk.”
Lurie denied that any conversations with DeMarco Murray accelerated the change, and said that he’s already taking the temperature of the team to figure out the best way forward. He also gave some interesting insight into why Kelly took the fall for Philadelphia’s 6-9 season.
Lurie said he wanted to hold Chip accountable for his decisions. Chip wanted that power, and is being held accountable for it.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) December 30, 2015
Interesting that Lurie said he's looking for "emotional intelligence" with his next coach. That had been a knock on Kelly.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) December 30, 2015
This lends some credence to two previously-held theories. Kelly taking control of personnel decisions was a power grab, and he struggled to connect with the players on a personal level, which we’ve heard rumblings of.
In the end, it seems as though it was Kelly’s continued efforts to wield more power – and the subsequent poor results – that were a big factor in his removal. Reported discontent in the locker room also seems to have contributed. Perhaps there is something to Cris Carter’s assertion about how players feel about him.
