A few years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles made a daring move by firing longtime head coach Andy Reid and hiring the creative mind behind one of the best offenses in college football, Oregon Ducks head coach, Chip Kelly. It seemed like a great idea at the time, considering how successful Kelly was at generating offense with the Ducks, but many wondered if his system would translate to the NFL.
Three years later, the Eagles have decided that it has not, and that they were tired of trying. With one game to go in the 2015 season, he was fired. While getting fired is normally a pretty upsetting thing for people, Kelly is smiling all the way to the bank.
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The Eagles are paying him $13.4 million, the final two years of his contract, to go away (how's that for a severance package?).
When he was hired Kelly, was signed to a five-year, $32.5 million contract, making him one of the higher paid coaches in the NFL, even before his first practice. At first, it seemed like a good investment. In his first season, the team went from 4-12 (in Andy Reid's final year) to 10-6, and won the division for the first time since 2010.
The offense appeared headed in the right direction. The unit finished second in the league in total yards, produced the league rushing leader in LeSean McCoy, and seemed to introduce a future star to NFL fans in Nick Foles (27 touchdowns, two interceptions).
The 2014 campaign started off on the right foot, with the team getting out to a 6-2 record before losing Nick Foles to an injury. They finished 10-6 with Mark Sanchez at the helm for half of the season and out of the playoffs.
Even with two different quarterbacks playing in 2014, the team still had the No. 5 offense in the league so things were not that bad, but for some reason, Kelly decided to blow the team up. Before the 2015 season started, he got rid of the team's starting quarterback, running back, and No. 1 wide receiver.
Had the Eagles won this season, he would have looked like a genius, but they didn't. The offense rarely looked good, the defense wasn't much better, and with the team sitting at 6-9 owner Jeff Lurie decided he had seen enough.
Kelly finished his time in Philadelphia with a record of 26-21, and $32.5 million to show for it (which comes out to $1.25 million a win).
Many have speculated that he would be fired all season, considering how the Eagles struggled and his off-season moves all fizzled. His name has been tossed around in talks for several top college coaching positions, but Kelly has expressed no interest in returning to the college ranks.
So far, the rumor mill has him reuniting with Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. Wherever he ends up, it will be interesting to see how much he gets paid after his struggles with the Eagles.
