Bill Belichick thinks the Eagles’ decision to fire Chip Kelly after just three years was a big mistake.
Bill Belichick rips the Eagles for firing Chip Kelly after just 3 years
The Patriots head coach doesn’t think much of the players Kelly sent packing.
Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
“Chip Kelly to me is a really good football coach,” Belichick said to the media on Thursday. “I think he’s done a good job with that team. It’s disappointing to see.”
Belichick then brought up Josh McDaniels, his offensive coordinator. McDaniels was hired away from the Patriots and named Broncos head coach in 2009. He was fired less than two years later and returned to New England.
“Pretty much everybody’s on a one-year contract in this league,” he said. “I don’t know how you build a program in one year.”
Kelly, who was hired as the Eagles' head coach in 2013, was promoted to personnel chief last offseason and immediately made a number of moves that many have since questioned. But Belichick defended Kelly's decisions, and mentioned that it took him three years to fully install his own program in New England.
“[Kelly will] end up somewhere, and he’ll do a great job there,” he added. “I’d say a lot of the players that were on the Eagles that are no longer on the Eagles aren’t really doing too much for anybody else, either.”
Belichick didn't mention any specific names, but was likely referring to were Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy, Evan Mathis and Cary Williams. Foles went 4-7 with the Rams this season and threw more interceptions than touchdowns before Case Keenum took over as the starting quarterback. In an injury-plagued season, LeSean McCoy ran for just 895 yards for the Bills. Mathis has been benched by the Broncos for rookie Max Garcia, while Williams was released earlier in the month by the Seahawks.
Kelly is already being linked to the Titans and Browns, while a number of other jobs are expected to open up following the completion of the regular season this Sunday.
Also coming to Kelly's defense this week was Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
"Quite frankly, I'm not surprised by anything in this business," Coughlin said when asked on Wednesday about Kelly's firing, via the New York Daily News. "But that one was close."
Andy Reid, the long-time Eagles coach who was replaced by Kelly, was asked about the news as well. Reid, now with the Chiefs and riding a nine-game winning streak, elected to answer politically and "wish both sides well."
In three years with the Eagles, Kelly went 26-21 and made the playoffs once.
See More:
