A lot goes on every day in sports. And then an NFL coach gets fired out of nowhere and that’s all you need to know. It’s the Wednesday Cheat Sheet!
Chip Kelly fired by Eagles; where is he headed next?
The Philadelphia Eagles “released” Chip Kelly on Tuesday, which is just a friendlier way of the Eagles saying they fired Chip Kelly. Either way, he’s gone, after three disappointing years as the Eagles coach, and after Kelly became in full control of the organization just last offseason, as The Comeback’s Dan Levy wrote in his article about the firing (oh I’m sorry, Eagles, the “release”):
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.
Current and former Eagles players had plenty of reaction to the firing. Examples:
#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
So, where could Kelly be headed next? Back to the college level where he dominated with Oregon, or would he like to give it another shot somewhere in the NFL?
FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer spoke with Kelly on Tuesday after the news, and Glazer said, “Four different times in our conversation, he (Kelly) told me, ‘I absolutely want to coach in the NFL.'”
When Glazer asked Kelly about coaching in college, Kelly (reportedly) said, “No, I really want to stay in the NFL.”
Glazer continued: “And the other thing was, he (Kelly) said, I don’t want to go somewhere and be the GM (general manager)… I just want to go coach somewhere.”
“He told me ‘I absolutely want to coach in the NFL'” @JayGlazer talks about his conversation with Chip Kelly. https://t.co/zxHsVVjQvC — FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) December 30, 2015
Benjamin Allbright of AM 1340 in Denver is hearing that three NFL teams have already reached out to Kelly, and only one of those teams currently has a head-coaching vacancy:
Three NFL teams have already reached out about Chip Kelly. Only one of those three currently has a “vacancy” — Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) December 30, 2015
NFL.Com’s Ian Rapoport suggests the Titans as a potential destination:
A high-ranking #Titans source told me a few weeks ago Chip Kelly wasn’t on his list because he was under contract. He’s not now… — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2015
And Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm follows up on that, explaining why the Titans make plenty of sense for Kelly:
#Titans make too much sense for Chip Kelly: Mariota, No. 1 pick, smaller media market, weakened front office where he’d be left alone. — Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) December 30, 2015
So, it appears Kelly wants to stay on as a head coach in the NFL, and we should probably consider the Titans to be the favorites to land him at this moment. There are sure to be more openings next week, but the Titans may still make the most sense regardless.
If Kelly has a change of heart and decides he wants back in the college game, he could probably have all but a handful of jobs in the country.
The Comeback’s Best of 2015 posts
Several of The Comeback’s writers have taken the time to put together articles ranking their top _ things of 2015 in the world of sports and pop culture. I haven’t done any myself (slacker) and have been really entertained by the work these guys have done, so I figured I’d share some of it on here:
Matt Yoder ranks the 15 Best Games of 2015.
Andrew Coppens ranks the 15 Best Teams in any Sport of 2015.
Alex Putterman has the 15 Best Male Athletes of 2015.
Alexander Goot has the 15 Best Female Athletes of 2015.
Brendan Prunty takes a look at the 15 Best Coaching Jobs of 2015.
Jordan White brings the 15 Best Superheroes of 2015.
Andrew Bucholtz provides his 15 Best New TV Shows of 2015.
These were all really well researched and thought out, so go take a look.
Quick Hits
– The above image found on Reddit… Kobe Bryant in his first video game (NBA Live ’97) vs his last video game (NBA 2K16). We’ve come a long way.
– Also found on Reddit, a 6-year-old girl has some very impressive dribbling skills.
– Jared Goff went off in what is probably his final game in college football. He’ll enter the Combine/workouts as the favorite to be the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft.
– Speaking of the NFL Draft, here’s a look at the projected draft order entering Week 17.
– A Polish hockey league goalie had a hilarious own goal.
– Guns N’ Roses’ founding members are reuniting for Coachella and may even do a big stadium tour.
– Karl Malone still uses a flip phone. Really no different than using a black and white television at this point. We’re almost in 2016, Mailman.
– Mike Tyson wiped out on his hoverboard.
– Even Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has a hoverboard.
– The Ravens’ win over the Steelers’ was Baltimore’s biggest upset in franchise history.
One last breath of gratuitous procrastination
Just getting the dog some nice exercise.
