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Just ten days after it was reported that University of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly would remain in the college ranks, he has been named the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
This announcement comes as a huge shock because everybody generally believed that Kelly would stay at the school, considering he had already interviewed with NFL teams last season and returned. Kelly was even offered a head coaching job by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, but decided to return to Oregon.
There is not much to be critical about when it comes to Kelly, considering he has done nothing but win games and rack up monumental amounts of points while doing it.
Kelly will conclude his run at Oregon with an incredible 46-7 record, two wins in four BCS bowl appearances, and a BCS National Championship appearance in 2010.
It goes without question that the Eagles will benefit greatly from Kelly’s fast-paced, go-go-go style of offense, considering the birds house some of the fastest players in the league on the offensive side of the ball in RB LeSean McCoy and WRs DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.
Eagles QB Michael Vick is expected to be released this off-season, which is now an interesting assumption, considering he is the perfect kind of quarterback for Kelly’s spread offense.
But, realistically, I think that the Eagles will still move on from the aging and ailing Vick, in order to get a younger and more durable quarterback behind center.
I would not be surprised at all if Kelly and the Eagles target a quarterback like Geno Smith out of West Virginia University in the 2013 NFL Draft, because of his combination of elusiveness and passing ability. Smith is not known as a runner, but he certainly has the burst needed to buzz past defenders.
In all, the Eagles’ acquisition of Kelly will prove to be an epic move, as I expect the coach to be a huge success in the NFL.
With the right quarterback and offense playbook at hand, this young Eagles’ offense has the chance to absolutely explode next season.
Please follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_RantNFL for all Eagles/NFL insight.
