Mark Schlereth Rips Chip Kelly’s Offense

Mark Schlereth joined Joe DeCamara and Adam Caplan on 97.5 the Fanatic on Friday to talk Week 4 football, and he held no punches when discussing what he despises about the way Chip Kelly is utilizing his offensive linemen this season.

“People talk about, ‘Oh, revolutionizing the offense under Chip Kelly, he’s going to change the game,'” Schlereth said. “You don’t change the game if you don’t block people on the line of scrimmage, and that’s been the biggest issue for them.”

Schlereth said he watched the Eagles’ win over the Jets in Week 3, and realized that Kelly’s offense only has one snap count because Kelly wants to run more plays in a shorter period of time.

“Chip Kelly, this is a Pop Warner snap count, essentially,” Schlereth said. “It’s the same snap count on every play, and defensive linemen tee off on you. You’re letting them control the line of scrimmage, you’re letting them get penetration in your backfield on a consistent basis because you don’t change your snap count.”

A former offensive lineman himself, Schlereth played 12 years in the NFL, his first six for Washington. During the interview, he was notably angry about the way Kelly is trying to implement his offensive linemen.

“I take it personally, because I know how hard it is. It pisses me off,” Schlereth said. “I’d like to put Chip Kelly in a helmet and shoulder pads and let someone tee off on him 65 plays in a row, because it sucks. I’ve been there before, and that stinks.”

Schlereth went on to point out that the Eagles are the only team in the league that focus on man-blocking on the front side of their line, and defended Jason Kelce‘s performance over the first three weeks.

“I hate it. Everything is man blocking on the front side,” Schlereth said. “And so now everybody says, ‘Oh, Jason Kelce can’t play anymore. What’s wrong with Jason Kelce? He’s too small, he’s undersized.’ You try to run when the defense knows the snap count, and they’re driving you four yards into the backfield on every play, and you’re helping your guard to help secure that nose guard before you work up to the middle linebacker because you want to be man-blocking on the front side of everything.

“It’s the only team in the league that does it that way, and the reason they’re the only team in the league that does it that way is because they’re stupid. They don’t understand NFL principles. You cannot do that. I don’t care who you are.”

Schlereth also made a point to emphasize that he didn’t think DeMarco Murray would fit in Kelly’s offense and running scheme.

“DeMarco Murray doesn’t fit in that offense,” Schlereth said. “Everybody said, ‘Are you crazy? He led the league in rushing.’

“You had LeSean McCoy. When you don’t block anybody on the line of scrimmage, and he makes four people miss and runs it for 40 yards, that’s not running the ball.

“It’s been an issue for the last two years, but people don’t see it because [McCoy] makes up for those things.”