Philadelphia Eagles players, they’re just like us! At least when it came to how they found out Chip Kelly was fired/released as their head coach Tuesday evening.
While the writing has been on the wall for some time, the move was shocking in it’s timing. In-season firings are all the rage in college football these days but few expected that trend to carry over into the NFL.
The move was so surprising that most players found out either via Twitter or from reporters asking them what they thought about the move. According to NJ.com, the Eagles did not tell players beforehand and Kelly did not meet with any of them either. He actually didn’t get the chance.
Former #Eagles coach Chip Kelly was fired at night, after players had finished meetings and gone home. There was no final address to them
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2015
Initial anonymous player reactions streamed in. One was “pissed.” When asked if he knew this was coming, another player responded “none whatsoever.” A third replied with the standard, “it’s a business.” Then, the confused reactions began to pour in.
#Eagles WR Jordan Matthews to me on Chip Kelly’s firing: “It was unexpected. I had no idea it was coming. I found out like everybody else.” — Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 30, 2015
#Eagles did not tell the players that Chip has been fired. One just found out when I reached out to him for comment. “Damn. For real?”
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) December 30, 2015
#Eagles player reaction to Chip being fired: “I’m pissed”. Had no idea it was coming. — Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) December 30, 2015
Reaction from players continue to roll in. “F***in shocked” #Eagles
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) December 30, 2015
The Eagles cut linebacker Emmanuel Acho for the second time during 2015 and the timing of his tweet leads one to believe there’s some serious subtweet game going on here:
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” — Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) December 30, 2015
Julian Vandervelde isn’t currently on the Eagles staff but considering Chip Kelly signed and released him multiple times this year, he started thinking ahead:
So does Chip getting fired mean the #Eagles will call me tomorrow OR never again? Vote now!
— Julian Vandervelde (@BatMandervelde) December 30, 2015
Former Eagles linebacker Jamar Chaney, who was cut under Kelly’s watch, also chimed in with his thoughts:
He came in, cut DJax, traded Shady & didn’t sign Maclin. Now he’s gone and those players are still gone. I know Philly doesn’t like that. — Jamar Chaney (@Jamar51Chaney) December 30, 2015
Kelly certainly hasn’t earned a reputation as a player’s coach so those reactions are expected. But given that the season isn’t over and some of the current players assuredly do like Kelly, it’s not a surprise to see a mixture of anger and frustration as well.
[NJ.com]
