Chip Kelly Named Eagles Coach: Video of Eagles hire Chip Kelly as coach
Sal Paolantonio discusses the Eagles' hiring of Chip Kelly as head coach.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles have hired Chip Kelly after he originally chose to stay at Oregon.
New Eagles coach Chip Kelly certainly moves the needle, but he's far from a sure thing, Ashley Fox cautions. 
The Eagles have hired Chip Kelly away from Oregon. Will Kelly's unique offensive style work in the pros?
Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich is widely assumed to be Chip Kelly's successor. At the Fiesta Bowl, he received ringing endorsements, Ted Miller writes.Kelly will be introduced at a news conference Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Eagles' practice facility.
"Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles," owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team."
Kelly, who was 46-7 in four years at Oregon, interviewed with the Eagles, Cleveland Brownsand Buffalo Bills after leading the Ducks to a victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. But he opted to remain at Oregon before changing his mind.
"I want to thank Chip for his leadership and commitment to building on the Oregon Football foundation of excellence," Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. "We have enjoyed incredible success over the past four years. I have great respect for Chip, consider him a friend and wish him the best of luck in the NFL."
Mullens said he is confident the Ducks will find the right coach to continue the program's success.
"Oregon Athletics has executed two successful head coach transitions in the past eighteen years and each time we continued our ascent. We are focused on identifying a leader who is the right fit to guide Oregon Football," he said in the statement.
The Eagles are known to have interviewed 11 candidates, including two meetings with Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
Kelly re-emerged as a candidate recently and an agreement was just reached Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.
Following the Fiesta Bowl, the 49-year-old Kelly said he wanted to get the interview process over "quickly." Turns out, it was anything but.
He came close to jumping to the pros last year but turned down an offer from Tampa Bay to return for his fourth season as the coach at Oregon. He has boosted the school's national profile -- flashy uniforms helped -- with a high-powered offense capable of turning any game into a track meet.
Chip Kelly becomes the sixth active NFL coach to make the jump directly from college. Kelly has the highest college win percentage of any of those coaches."It's more a fact-finding mission, finding out if it fits or doesn't fit," Kelly said after the Ducks defeated the Wildcats 35-17. "I've been in one interview in my life for the National Football League, and that was a year ago. I don't really have any preconceived notions about it. I think that's what this deal is all about for me. It's not going to affect us in terms of we're not on the road (recruiting). I'll get an opportunity if people do call, see where they are.
"I want to get it wrapped up quickly and figure out where I'm going to be."
Kelly doesn't have any pro coaching experience, but aspects of his up-tempo offense are already being used by some NFL teams, including New England and Washington.
Under Kelly, Oregon ran 1,077 plays in just 13 games last season (82.8 per game), according to ESPN Stats & Information. Amazingly, that would have ranked seventh (just two total plays behind the Eagles' 1,079) in the NFL's 16-game schedule this season. The Patriots led the NFL with 1,191 plays this season (74.4 per game).
Kelly never said whether he was leaning one way or another after the bowl.
"I said I'll always listen, and that's what I'll do," he said. "I know that people want to talk to me because of our players. The success of our football program has always been about our guys. It's an honor for someone to say they'd want to talk to me about maybe moving on to go coach in the National Football League. But it's because of what those guys do. I'll listen, and we'll see."
Oregon could be facing possible NCAA sanctions for the school's use of recruiting services, but Kelly indicated in Arizona that he isn't running from anything.
"We've cooperated fully with them," he said. "If they want to talk to us again, we'll continue to cooperate fully. I feel confident in the situation."
Oregon's players gave Kelly a Gatorade bath as the final seconds ticked off the clock against Kansas State, and afterward a few of the Ducks seemed resigned to their coach moving on.
"We'll have to see," quarterback Marcus Mariota said. "Whatever he decides to do, we're all behind him. He's an unbelievable coach. He's not only a football coach, but he's someone that you can look to and learn a lot of life lessons from. Whatever happens, happens. But we're all behind him.
"We'll see where it takes us."
For a while, it seemed that Cleveland was the front-runner, if indeed Kelly was to make the jump. He met with the Browns for seven hours at an undisclosed location -- five in negotiations with a two-hour break for dinner -- and agreed to talk again. But talks never progressed from that point.
The Eagles fired Reid after two forgettable years. A late flurry brought the team to an 8-8 finish last season, but this season Philadelphia endured an eight-game losing streak and dropped 11 of its final 12 games. A 3-1 start soon washed away, and Reid's 14-year tenure ended not long after. Within a week, Reid was Kansas City's new coach.
Still, Kelly has tough shoes to fill. Reid won more games than any coach in franchise history and led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, six division titles, five conference championship games and a loss to New England in the Super Bowl following the 2004 season.
Kelly and the Eagles, who have won just 12 games the last two seasons after winning the NFC East in 2010, have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft as well as some talented players on offense who could fit his up-tempo scheme. Running back LeSean McCoy and wide receiversDeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin seem like an ideal match. Quarterback Nick Foles, however, isn't.
"I've never run the zone read," Foles said after the season. "I'm more of a dropback guy. I've been under center. I've been in the gun. If I can adapt, I want to. But I'm not a zone-read quarterback. Some people are gifted with different things. That's just not one of my skill sets. I can work on the speed in the offseason and get better with that. But I've always been a dropback guy in the pocket. I've been able to make plays on my feet throwing the ball or running for a first down."
On the other hand, Michael Vick could be perfect. But it's unlikely the Eagles would want to pay the $16 million they'd have to shell out for an injury-prone quarterback, who will be 33 next season.
Kelly had high praise for Foles after Oregon beat Arizona 56-31 in September 2011.
"I'll tell you what; I'm glad Nick Foles is graduating," Kelly said at that time. "I catch myself watching him in awe sometimes. Nick is a hell of a football player. That kid's a warrior. He's as good as anyone in the country."
Others interviewed by Lurie, general Howie Roseman and president Don Smolenski were former Bears coach Lovie Smith, Atlanta assistants Mike Nolan and Keith Armstrong, former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.
The first Eagles to react to Kelly's hiring on Twitter were defensive players.
Defensive end Brandon Graham wrote: "Happy to have Chip Kelly!! Now it's time to get to work!"
Safety Kurt Coleman wrote: "Welcome Chip Kelly to the Eagles family. Can't wait to see what he brings to the team in 2013!"
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