Philadelphia Eagles News and Rumors: Team Owner Fires Head Coach Chip Kelly
Just before he could finish his third straight season as the Eagles head coach, Chip Kelly has been fired by team ownership after the team's mediocre and somewhat poor performance this season. Taking his place in an interim basis is offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who will be manning the sidelines for Philadelphia's regular season finale against the New York Giants.
The decision directly came from Jeffrey Lurie, the team owner, who by the way also fired the vice president of player personnel, Ed Marynowitz. Marynowitz is actually a personal choice of Kelly while performing his function as acting general manager this season. With the departure of the VP of player personnel, Lurie hired Tom Donahue as the new director of player personnel.
With these recent developments, the Eagles are now expected to find a new head coach, as well as a general manager to guide the team to a better performance next season.
But Kelly's firing isn't really a surprise to many, especially when one looks at the struggles the team faced this year. Many of the roster movements Kelly made turned out to be failures, and with a 6-9 record heading into the finale, it is pretty sure the team will be packing early for vacation this season.
In almost three complete seasons with the team, Kelly compiled a record of 25-19. Although he did achieve the success team ownership was hoping for this season, he did lead the Eagles to the NFC East title two years ago.
Obviously, the Eagles are trying to take the right direction by finding a coach who can take them to the next level. As for Kelly, uncertainty looms; though he's someone with enough experience to easily find a coaching job even before the start of next season. He can even contemplate on going back to college football if he wants.