The Eagles' website features a massive list of names under the front office heading, but oddly enough, not one is Chip Kelly.
The former Oregon coach wrestled personnel control from ownership this offseason in a move that exiled former general manager Howie Roseman to a vague role as executive vice president of football operations. Kelly, meanwhile, maintains that he is not the team's general manager.
Per NFL Media's Michael Robinson, that might be a problem.
"He needs a guy that's going to come in and help him evaluate talent," Robinson said on GameDay First, going on to say that DeMarco Murray is continually misused, as well as cornerback Byron Maxwell, Robinson's former teammate.
While his point on Maxwell is solid, and it does seem like Murray is spinning his wheels in the mud with constant sweep plays that take him farther east and west than north and south, the Kelly situation may be far more complicated than that.
It was hard for Kelly to find someone to fit into the personnel role once he ousted Roseman, and a long search finally landed Ed Marynowitz in the lead personnel role. In press conferences, it seems like Kelly is not doing a good job of protecting Marynowitz, who got the job presumably because he stacked the team with players that fit Kelly's requirements. Kelly often says that he is not the general manager, which is true in title, but is often met with rolled eyes by those familiar with the composition of the team's power structure.
It's a tangled web.
Also speaking on GameDay First, Shaun O'Hara said he still thinks Kelly can succeed as a coach, which makes the entire situation seem silly. If they could only get another person in there, or if Marynowitz could have more autonomy to provide a legitimate counterpoint to whatever Kelly is doing, all of this might actually work.
"They need a recovery shake because with Chip Kelly, it's not about him not being a good coach," O'Hara said. "I think Chip Kelly is a heck of a coach and I think coaches around the league respect him for his knowledge of the game, but the problem is he hasn't adapted to his players. I think good coaches -- we talk about Bill Belichick every week about the gameplans week in and week out, adapting to what your players do well, and he has not changed."
Now, we wait and see. What will give first in Philadelphia?
