Former Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly. Former Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly.
NFLBy Dan Levy on

The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t wait for Black Monday to part ways with Chip Kelly. In the surprise of all moves in the NFL this season, the Eagles announced they have “released” Kelly, effective immediately.

The Best of 2015

Today, Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles, released Head Coach Chip Kelly.

“We appreciate all the contributions that Chip Kelly made and wish him every success going forward,” said Lurie.

Coach Pat Shurmur will be interim head coach for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.

Ed Marynowitz, vice president of player personnel, was also released. Tom Donahoe, former GM of the Buffalo Bills and director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers and senior football advisor for the Eagles since 2012, will assume the role of senior director of player personnel.

A press conference will be held Wednesday, December 30 at the NovaCare Complex at Noon with Lurie.

This is a total shock, given how ingrained in the Eagles organization Kelly became last off-season. The third-year coach seized total control of the organization before the season, wrestling away power from Howie Roseman and bringing in a roster of his own players, trading away or cutting more than 60 percent of the Eagles team that Andy Reid left him.

Now it’s Kelly, himself, who has been cut.

In the end, the Kelly era in Philly was as fast as his offense wanted to play, with 10 wins in his first two seasons and a trip to the playoffs, Kelly’s tenure finishes at 26-21 in Philadelphia.

The wording of the Eagles’ statement is curious. “Released.” As in maybe Kelly wanted this to happen.

Rumors have been swirling since he signed with Philly that he was going back to college, with every job from USC to of all places Maryland being on the short list to go after the former college coaching star. His methods never quite translated to the NFL level, but he should be the hottest of off-season targets for university presidents looking to make an off-season splash.

http://gty.im/159633167

UPDATE: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wrote a letter, posted on the team website. Here it is in full:

I have made a decision to release Chip Kelly this evening. I spent the last three seasons evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team. As I watched this season unfold, I determined that it was time to make a change. 

As we move forward, the search for a new head coach will begin and will be led by myself, Don Smolenski and Howie Roseman. To the extent that we are able, we will try to keep you informed as we go through this process. 

Pat Shurmur will be our interim coach for the Giants game Sunday. 

We have also released Ed Marynowitz, vice president of player personnel. Tom Donahoe, who has been our senior football advisor since 2012, will assume the role of senior director of player personnel. 

I am determined and excited to select a new coach to help us obtain our ultimate goal. 

Thank you for your consistent and enthusiastic support. It is always appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Lurie
Chairman and CEO

About Dan Levy

Dan Levy has written a lot of words in a lot of places, most recently as the National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. He was host of The Morning B/Reakaway on Sirius XM's Bleacher Report Radio for the past year, and previously worked at Sporting News and Rutgers University, with a concentration on sports, media and public relations.

View all posts by Dan Levy

Comments are closed.