Chip Kelly's next bold move could be for...T March 4, 2015

Better keep your head on a swivel, Nick Foles.

Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota might be in Chip Kelly's draft crosshairs after all, now that Kelly has turned another offseason into hunting season, as in stockpiling his former Oregon Ducks.

Kelly is large and in charge, continuing to send a clear message that his Philadelphia Eagles better follow his way, or else.

This offseason has been all about Kelly asserting his power, from seizing personnel control from general manager Howie Roseman, and bumping him into more of a business role. Then came Tuesday's stunning trade of 2013 rushing leader LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kelly's former Oregon Ducks linebacker Kiko Alonso.

USA TODAY

Eagles to trade LeSean McCoy to Bills for Kiko Alonso

Last April, the Eagles coach sent shockwaves through the league when he released former 1,000-yard receiver DeSean Jackson, who later signed with NFC East rival Washington.

McCoy follows linebackers Trent Cole, Brandon Graham and cornerback Cary Williams out the door in Kelly's latest roster purge that could have Mariota, a former Oregon quarterback, as his target come the April 30 draft.

Alonso, who led the Bills with 159 tackles in 2013 before missing last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, is the ninth former Oregon player to join Kelly's Ducks Northeast. Kelly also drafted Mariota's former Ducks receiver John Huff in the third round last spring.

"No respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Caption that!," Cole wrote on his Twitter feed.

Kelly gets respect or else you disappear.

McCoy, who was scheduled to earn $11.5 million this season, chafed at some of Kelly's new-age ways including practicing on Saturdays before games and now finds himself the dynamic centerpiece for new Bills coach Rex Ryan's "Ground and Pound'' offense.

The trade, which cannot become official until next week, came after McCoy rushed for 1,319 yards and five touchdowns one season removed from leading the league with 1,607 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning coach and current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden has some advice for Kelly should that ever-present buzz about Kelly wanting to trade up from the 20th overall pick to select the quarterback Kelly calls the best he's ever coached be legitimate.

If Kelly wants to reunite with Mariota to supplant Foles, who missed eight games with a broken collarbone, he's going to have to trade into the top four of the draft.

"I don't know what the Titans or the Jets are going to do, but I'd be shocked if Mariota goes outside the top five or six picks,'' Gruden told USA TODAY Sports. "I can see where it seems logical for everybody to assume Chip Kelly wants Marcus. I'm sure Chip would.

"Where the league is going, Marcus fits a lot of systems, not just Philadelphia's. This kid can play. I don't think he needs Philadelphia and Chip Kelly to prove he can play in the NFL. ... There's going to be some competition to go and get this kid, provided he throws the ball and shows well at his pro day workout.''

One of those teams is the New York Jets, with the sixth overall pick. New Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey was ahead of the curve in taking an athletic quarterback and molding his talents to his scheme with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995.

"If you look at Chan Gailey and the New York Jets right now, Chan Gailey is one of the most creative guys there are,'' Gruden said. "Look what he did with Kordell Stewart back in the day with the Steelers. He created 'The Slash.'''

Gruden is convinced Mariota has the goods to be a franchise transformer Kelly could be looking for to put the Eagles over the top after Foles showed signs of regressing before breaking his collarbone in Week 8.

"Marcus has the right stuff," Gruden said. "If you just put his measurable and traits on a piece of paper, how do you not want 6-5, 220 pounds that runs 4.5? I don't know.

"Everybody that comes in contact with him will tell you, his work ethic, athleticism, his relentlessness to be good is really unique.

"You have to get the right system with the right creative offensive staff. They're probably going to have to teach him how to get in and out of the huddle and how to play at a different speed. But if you want to go up and down the field like some of these teams in the no-huddle, then, go for it.'

I am curious how this plays out. I remember when "Big Money...errr...Big Show" came to Cleveland. How keeping Mangini another year did nothing. Is Chip Kelly doing the same? Waiting two years to overall the team to late? Is dumping players a bit drastic? Difference Philly won games last two years. At least media negative attention is drawn away from Cleveland!

He's making a lot of Interesting moves. Not sure many would do those things.

The question was, " Would you be happy if Haslam did get Chip Kelly?"

Wow, What if Joe Thomas was playing the role of McCoy or Alex Mack or Joe Haden playing the role of Jackson.

By that I mean, those three guys are without a doubt probowlers for the Browns... So what if Kelly came in here and traded them all away?

We'd have a mass suicide on this board LOL

Kelly has done a great job in Philly and I would suppose he'd have done a decent job here. So yeah, I'd be happy if the results were the same as he had in Philly. Who wouldn't?

I just wonder how quickly he'd get run out of town on a rail for trading our top players?

NO did not want him then and would not want him now ... JMHO

I will be happy when we win consistently. I dont care who the coach or GM is, just win some dang games.

It's kind of a tough question because it's hard to know what kind of success Kelly would have found here in Cleveland.

I do have to say though, that fast paced spread offense he likes to run would have been a lot of fun to see here in Cleveland.

I kind of like what Kelly is doing with the Eagles. He's enforcing to others that if you want to get paid big money you have to produce and earn the big money or he'll cut you.

I have no doubt he's going to build a winner.

Haslam had one wasted season with Shurmur as HC..he inherited him.

Then the swing and miss at Kelly and the exhausting search for a HC that ended with Chud..result, another wasted season as Chud was undercut by Haslam and Banner.
and fired.

Then another exhausting search that ended with Pettine.

The Browns could be entering the 3rd year under Kelly vs entering the second year under Pettine...would put the team a year ahead if Kelly had been hired.

But IMO, Kelly working under Joe Banner, would not have worked out. Kelly now has full control over the roster in Philly and I seriously doubt that Banner would have agreed to let Kelly have that kind of control here.

But I'm very happy with Mike Pettine and believe he is the real deal. The more control Pettine has, the better the Browns will be.

No Kelly for me. "Blockbuster" moves are not necessarily good or bad. Little early for me to be a Kelly envy guy.

having trouble connecting the dots. These players were the problems standing in the way of overall success.

Happy with our coach. REALLY interested in what Pettine 2.0 will be with some of the lunatic sideshow getting cut back. Less circus means more wins (fingers crossed).

j/c

sometimes these "types" of leaders/coaches are the smartest men in the room. They do things to prove their existence rather than making the fundamentally sound decisions.

Would I rather have him than Pettine? Not sure.

Would I rather have their (old) roster than ours? Yes.

When Chip said he was taking over personnel, he really meant it. Some interesting moves he's making.

Would I be happy with him? No, I like Pettine. I was rooting for Chip though when we interviewing candidates, but as of now I'm pleased with who we have at HC. I'm curious though how all all these moves n etc will pan out.

JMO

I like Pettine too, I just hope the FO has patience with this team (I know most fans won't), I am tired of the revolving door mentality ...

I have to admit it would be fun watching Kelly's offense in Cleveland every Sunday but I have a bad feeling it's going to end very bad in Philly... Anytime you give one guy all of that control usually bad things happen.

Well, considering I'd STILL be a Browns fan....

I don't believe I would be happy.... I wasn't a fan of his from the start.

I don't think I could have connected with his mentality in the way I connect with Pet.




This in time may just bite Kelly in the ass...These players are men now..Not collage boys..

There's a fine line between having players respect you and having them kiss your ass..

Players won't want to come kiss his ass...

For the moment.. Pet has me happy and I see players wanting to respect him... not having to.

I wanted Chip at that time because I wanted someone who was willing to be an innovator in all facets of the game. On the field and off the field.

He is monitoring sleep and exercise habits to figure out the optimal way to train his players. He has an offensive system that has been rather successful and kept it going this past year.

He has double-digit wins in both years despite inheriting Michael Vick and unproven Nick Foles as his QB-duo (yes, better overall talent base than Browns had 2 years ago).

I don't know if what Chip is doing will pay off in the long-run, but I am intrigued. And, the NFL may be a copycat league, but it's the innovators who tend to do the best.

I would have loved to have chip Kelly... that said I have few complaints about Pet and as curious how his team evolves, realizing that he is starting from more a position of weakness than Kelly did so the forthcoming one to one argument are mitigated.

I will repeat one thing though... if...... again IF Kelly were to sign CJ Spiller to partially replace McCoy ( not completely impossible),.... this board would light up and we would fried in the media.

" WTH? Kelly traded a top 2/3 running back for a LB and a RB both coming back from IR list... just to save Haslam some money"

You are correct. I've noticed that a lot of Browns fans look with admiration at other coaches who are daring and bold and make questionable decisions while blasting our staff anytime they don't go strictly by the book.

Kelly has been interesting to watch and will continue to be. I do get the impression that he always feels he's the smartest guy in the room and that will lead to bold moves. If he's more successful than not, he will be a genius, but there is always the chance it will blow up in his face.

No, it sure wouldn't. But can you imagine the sheer entertainment value? There would have been some terrific quotes. This site would have had a field day...

32...8 hours after the first (and only) interview Kelly had with Banner was "enough" for Kelly.

Banner and Haslam thought they would interview Kelly a second time, while having dinner, and Kelly was a "no show"...one time with Banner was enough for Kelly to know he wanted nothing to do with Cleveland.

Kelly and Banner would have been at each others throat...

I'm taking Kelly over pretty much everyone else in the league at this point. Belichick, Carroll, Arians, Harbaugh, and Kelly are the best five out there.

I can see it now. Chip Kelly, after two years of 10+ wins, starting dumping top Browns talent. You remember how this board erupted when Vickers was let go?

I'm sorry, but .... tell me more about 2 years of 10+ wins.

LOL,, Yeah,, Please do because it sounds exciting.

Yea, like that other dumb arse coach we had here a long time ago.. can't remember his name... but he let our very popular QB go over diminishing skills and Browns fans were furious. Whatever happened to him? He must be coaching HS football somewhere now.

Touche. Bernie WAS a fan favorite, "kind of" hometown kid.

However, Belicheck himself has said he learned a lot about coaching when he was in Cleveland. Granted, he never got the chance to work his wonders here.....

And, once he sent Bernie packing, what did the Browns do?

Start a really long list of starting QB's

The thing about taking control of everything, is that when it breaks down, there is only one linchpin to pull and replace.

I'm leaning towards no on Chip Kelly. Its still very early and there isn't enough data on Kelly or Pettine for that matter.

Some have pointed to the "two seasons of 10+ wins", I say don't ignore that Philly had the majority of that roster in place when Kelly came in. Another thing to consider is that systems are great but great coaching also involves taking the players you have and adjusting what you do to get the best production from them.

Another consideration is that Philly's defense or, the Oregon defense for that matter, hasn't scared anyone with Kelly at the helm.

I don't accept the conventional wisdom that nobody wants to come to Cleveland. How is an all-powerful Chip Kelly being perceived by veteran free agents around the league?

Right now we are just seeing the first glimpses of Eagle Football Czar, Chip Kelly. I wouldn't be comfortable with all of that power concentrated in one individual in the organization. As of now I don't see much evidence that pro-player personnel as it functions around the league is holding much sway in Philly. How do they effectively handle free agency, draft preparation and get ready for the new season with a single pair of eyes on all aspects of football operation?

It's not impossible for Chip Kelly to beocme an undisputed success in the NFL. He'll need to blaze his own path to make it happen.

This is the truth of the matter.

You know.........there are two ways to look at this.

One way is to buy into the tone of the article and say the guy is power hungry and the poor players did not deserve to get cut or traded.

Another way is that too many players are selfish and if you don't want to buy into the team aspect of the game, then go do it somewhere else.

They actually made the playoffs and won the last playoff game in Brown's history. I remember them beating New England---of all people.

You saw that too. I totally get putting in your system and guys. We saw it when "Big Money" came on board. We didn't like it, but we thought the best thing to do was cut bait start rebuilding.

I also see Philly had a lot of talent. As you stated, they made the playoffs. I guess he grew tired of not having guys perform up to his definition of "play like an Eagle."

One thing is for sure, national media cuts Chip Kelly a lot of slack. Can you even imagine the labeling placed on the Browns if they pulled that stunt. Remember how dysfunctional and ego driven Banner was for trading Richardson?

What has Chip Kelly built in the NFL? Watching what Philly does in FA and draft should get quite interesting.

Sorry bugs...........because you are my bud, but I actually kind of agree w/what Kelly is doing.

I despise prima donnas.

Now, maybe Kelly is a jerk and completely off base, but I suspect that the players weren't buying in.

If they don't...............get them out.

ON the other hand... If Kelly is a jerk and off base... can you blame the players for not buying in ?

Kelly may go through a lot of players looking for the ones who buy in...

I think I did address that in my first post.

I like Pettine. I think Kelly might be painting himself in to a corner by seeking players with whom he is comfortable.


There is a old saying...."You can never go home".



You can try, and sometimes maybe get close, but you can never get there.

I'm not sure where I drifted, but I agree. I think Kelly is doing it right. I wonder if waiting two years to do it is a wise move. Cutting bait now he wasted two years. It is exactly what "Big Money" did not sacking Mangini year 1. It accomplished nothing.

Okay bugs. My bad. I think I misunderstood you.

And again, not saying there is a right-or definitive answer at this point. It's just a feeling.

I disagree. I have another saying. "It harder to do without your own tools."

Kelly will eventually get fired like all coaches do. If I were a coach, I hate getting fired trying to make my systems work with some other guy's players. That doesn't mean replace everyone. If you have guys loyal to someone else, you will never win and never get their full productivity. They simply don't believe in you.

It's funny how people support this guy. They was a playoff squad with Desean Jackson, then they cut him, and miss the playoffs.

Shady McCoy runs for 1300 yards, and gets traded for some dude who just came off ACL injury. both are similar age.

I got money that says they don't sniff the playoffs this year.

Yep, I think it'll make a good study this year maybe next. I wonder how much ownership buys in too. Kelly has some rough road to navigate.

I don't think Cleveland would be that patient. Pettine/Farmer will walk a thin line this year. Haslam has playoff thoughts.

Do you honestly think Jackson is the reason they made the playoffs the year before? And are you discounting the improvement of the Cowboys?

I was about to say the same exact thing.

Mark Sanchez playing QB probably had something to do with them not making the playoffs (along with a heaping scoop of regression for Nick Foles).

If I was Kelly and someone questioned me, my response would be, "I made Mark Sanchez look halfway decent."

When you keep getting rid of playmakers, yes. other than foles getting injured(who wasnt playing that well compared to the year prior) and sanchez, is was bad.

they had nobody who stretched the field, which is why the run game, while still amazing, took a huge blow. teams were stacking everything and the kitchen sink.

Now who's gonna replace shady's production? That dude is legit. sure, RB's are everywhere, but not at HIS production level.

they got rid of an offensive piece that was already a unstable group, and made it worse, with hopes that a LB coming off an ACL injury will make the team better.

I would never ever make that trade. thats just my opinion.

Also missing 5 out of their 7 offensive linemen throughout the season did not bode well for them.

I think Chip Kelly has the problem a lot of coaches fresh from the college scene have. They are used to working with boys instead of men. Boys will bend to an adults will a lot better. With Men you have to work harder to earn their trust enough to go all in. With men their personalities are set and you have to deal with them as they are. I think Chip is probably suffering control withdraw because people don't trust him. I mean hell you run for 1300 yards and your not safe? You're the top receiver on the team and your job ain't safe? Players will never trust in a coach that doesn't reward success.

I agree with some of the more recent posters. I don't think this was a good trade based on the rest of the Philly offense. Who do they have throwing the ball? Catching the ball? Running the ball? If I remember right, their line is pretty good, just had injuries last year, which basically makes them the Cleveland Browns. So what happens when that offense can't move and sets records for punting the ball away in the shortest time?

I wanted Chip as coach of the Browns, he was far and away my #1 candidate that year and I still wish we could have found a way to land him.

The Eagles were not a playoff squad when he took over. They were 4-12, the talent on the team had eroded considerably (8-8 the year before), and the QB situation was a mess. That he has won 10 games in back-to-back years is impressive.

The trade is curious to be sure but we have all seen how veteran tailbacks fall off and even McCoy fell off from 1607 yards to 1319 yards on identical 314 attempts the last two years. Add in 9.75 million salary and if there are any locker room issues, it makes perfect sense to get a promising young player in return for him.

I think you are wrong.

The Eagles had Macklin, Cooper, and drafted Matthews. Let's look at some stats:

2013: They were 4th in scoring and second in total yards.

2014: They were 3rd in scoring and 5th in total yards.

They also had quite a few injuries in 2014. Significant injuries.

I am not sure if Kelly is doing it right, but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point.

They were 4 and 12 the year before he got there. 4 and freaking 12.

They were 10 and 6 w/Jackson the following year.

They were 10 and 6 last year w/out Jackson.

Would you like to reconsider your initial opinion, or are you going to pull a cfrs?

Pull a cfrs, it's what all the cool kids are doing!

is that like pull my finger?

no - That would be a GM

nope. Thats my opinion. I think losing Djax hurt them. Just how I feel. I think trading away Shady was dumb.

you always say stats don't tell the whole story. yet somehow it applies now?

I think they won't sniff the playoffs this year,
I still think mingo is trash.
And hoyer is trash.

those are opinions that won't be changing until they prove otherwise. sorry bout it.

He may be trash, but he's the best one armed player of all time though...