Chip Kelly reveals coaching staff; Mike Vick in ‘open competition’ at QB
Chip Kelly announced his coaching staff to the world Monday.
The process of choosing the right individuals to help mold the Eagles into Super Bowl contenders played out over the course of nearly a month. Patience, preached Kelly. The coach also stressed the importance of hiring guys with NFL experience.
“I wanted to hire coordinators who had NFL experience,” Kelly said. “It’s real important to me that we took our time with this. The biggest thing for me was who was the right fit.”
The three men that Kelly wants to lean on the most appear to be offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, defensive coordinator Bill Davis and defensive line coach/assistant head coach Jerry Azzinaro, a guy Kelly brought with him from Oregon. Kelly brings five assistants into the nest with Oregon ties.
“That was really important to me to get a bunch of guys in here that understood me,” Kelly said. “I can put together guys with NFL experience and [the Oregon coaches] can fill in the blanks with them about me.”
Here are the rest of the hires, which were first released Friday. Duce Staley and Ted Williams are holdovers from the Andy Reid administration.
Dave Fipp, special teams coordinator; Greg Austin, assistant offensive line; Bob Bicknell, wide receivers; Erik Chinander, assistant defensive line; Mike Dawson, defensive quality control; Matt Harper, assistant special teams; Josh Hingst, strength and conditioning; Shaun Huls, sports science coordinator; Bill Lazor, quarterbacks; John Lovett, defensive backs; Todd Lyght, assistant defensive backs; Bill McGovern, outside linebackers; Rick Minter, inside linebackers; Justin Peelle, assistant tight ends; Duce Staley, running backs; Jeff Stoutland, offensive line; Press Taylor, offensive quality control; Ted Williams, tight ends.
‘Open competition’ at quarterback
The biggest question of the offseason is answered, or half of it is answered.
Mike Vick agreed to restructure his contract Monday morning, signing a one-year deal that could pay him up to $10 million for the 2013 season. Vick had been due $15.5 million on his previous deal.
Kelly couldn’t hide his excitement Monday when asked about getting his hands on Vick. However, the new coach maintained that the job for starting quarterback is very much an open competition between Vick and second-year pro Nick Foles.
“I’m excited about the two of them,” Kelly said. “I know they’re going to compete. But who is going to be the starting quarterback will be won on the practice field.”
Kelly noted that both Vick and Foles would take first-team reps at practices, and there will be plenty of reps to go around. He watched copious amounts of game tape on Vick and determined that he can still play at a high level. Kelly went out of his way to praise Vick’s quick release and toughness, something he referenced at least a dozen times.
“There’s a lot of different factors he has,” Kelly said of Vick. “The best way I can put it is this, there is a change of scenery going on, but there’s not a change of address.”
