Chip Kelly is on Philly soil.
A group of television reporters gathered at Northeast airport Wednesday night as the new Eagles head coach touched down. He stopped and spoke briefly with 6ABC and others before heading to Jeffrey Lurie‘s house with Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski.
Gus Bradley left for Jacksonville this morning without a deal.
That does not guarantee that he will not be the next head coach of the Eagles, but it does open the door to other scenarios.
One name to keep an eye on is Ken Whisenhunt, who interviewed on Monday. One league source believes it is a two-man race between Whisenhunt and Bradley right now, but really only Jeffrey Lurie knows for sure.
It is still very much a possibility that Gus Bradley will become the next head coach of the Eagles. But we are not there yet.
Jason La Canfora went after Howie Roseman pretty hard in his latest piece for CBS Sports, portraying the 37-year-old as a shaky general manager who is impeding the Eagles’ quest to find a quality head coach. Is he right?
The Eagles interviewed Brian Billick on Monday and consider the former Ravens coach one of the leading candidates, according to a report.
The Eagles’ game plan heading into this coaching search now seems pretty obvious.
They were going to swing and swing hard at some of the big name college coaches early, and see if they couldn’t land a Kelly or an O’Brien or any collegiate coach with an Irish last name and some sizzle. There was an inherent risk in this strategy: such a pursuit will draw headlines, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to lure these guys out of some of the top programs in the country. Come up empty, and your quest will look like a failure.
The Eagles are “going all in” on Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, according to a report.
Pro Football Talk, citing a source, says that the Eagles want Kelly to be their next head coach.
And if the Eagles don’t get Kelly, there’s a sense that they won’t quite know where to turn next.
Bruce Arians is expected to be released from the hospital “any moment” after being treated for an inner-ear infection, according to his agent, Mike Brown.
Arians, who stepped in for Chuck Pagano and guided the Colts to an 11-5 record this season, got sick this week and was forced to miss Sunday’s 24-9 playoff loss to the Ravens.
The Eagles have requested permission to interview the Colts offensive coordinator but had yet to reach out to the Arians camp to set up an interview time as of late Monday morning, according to Brown. Arians is expected to be back in Indianapolis by this evening and will likely sit down on Tuesday and go over the list of interested teams to formulate a plan. The anticipation is that the interview process will be “in full swing” by Thursday.
A special edition of Birds 24/7 radio as Sheil and Tim dive into the important questions regarding the Eagles coaching search. Plus, reaction to Jeremiah Trotter‘s candid remarks about Andy Reid.
Click here to listen online and here to download.
Birds 24/7 Radio broadcasts live at Smith’s (19th and Chestnut) on Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. on 97.5 The Fanatic.
The Eagles are expected to interview Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy over the weekend. That will likely not be the end of their search. Jeffrey Lurie has promised a thorough process, and there are several assistant coaches involved in the postseason that they will likely want to sit down with.
But McCoy and Kelly are two hot names and both could very well end up with NFL head coaching jobs over the next couple weeks. One may even land in Philadelphia. Let’s examine the two side-by-side.
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Sheil Kapadia has been writing about the Eagles since 2008. His previous Philly.com blog, Moving the Chains, was named one of the best in the state by the Associated Press. Sheil's main joys in life are family, football and finding good parking spots.
Tim McManus is a bulldog reporter with a nose for news and story angles that will get people talking. He'll talk about it himself on 97.5 The Fanatic, where he serves as a host and Eagles beat reporter. Tim, an award-winning journalist, will be with the team around the clock.
