When Chip Kelly met the media Thursday, he thanked a surprising name right off the bat: The previous Philadelphia Eagles coach.
"One person I really want to thank in terms of advice in this whole thing is Andy Reid," Kelly said. "Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here. That told me what this organization is all about. There's not a classier guy. ...
"When Andy texted me yesterday when I accepted the job, I told him I had really big shoes to fill. In typical Andy fashion, he said, 'Just be yourself, and you'll be fine.' I just want to publicly thank Andy because that spoke to me about what this organization is all about."
Kelly's first question in Philadelphia was appropriately suspicous. Why would Kelly succeed as the first coach with no NFL experience in 12 years to get a head-coaching job?
"Football is football," Kelly replied.
Here's what else we learned from Kelly's first news conference:
1. Kelly said he was a "huge fan" of Nick Foles, noting how tough the quarterback was in college at Arizona. Kelly also said Foles was accurate, and the coach looks forward to working with him.
2. On needing quarterbacks who can run: "There's perception and there's reality. The perception is we run our quarterback all the time and this is what we do. The reality is that's not the case. One of the best qualities in a quarterback is durability. And a lot of that has to do with play-calling."
3. Kelly said he is open to keeping quarterback Michael Vick, saying nothing is "off the board" nor on the board. Kelly said he has followed Vick's career from afar.
4. The speed and age of the players on the Eagles' roster was a factor in Kelly taking the job. "Speed and youth are two things you can't coach," Kelly said.
5. Perhaps the most concerning quote of Kelly's press conference: "I'm not a public guy."
6. "I'm an equal-opportunity scorer. I'm not married to ... trying to take a quarterback who can't run and making him run."
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
