At a time like this, we go right to the Philadelphia Daily News:
Well, those headline writers certainly never disappoint. Considering that the Eagles’ move to part ways with Chip Kelly is going to dominate both the local and national sports landscape over the next 24 hours, how did the writers do?
Local
Lurie brought this mess upon himself: Mike Sielski, Philadelphia Inquirer
Jeff Lurie taking some heat:
Now that Chip Kelly is no longer the Eagles' head coach - the announcement coming with one game left in his third season, in a 7:12 p.m. news release Tuesday that carried and delivered the shock of a thunderbolt on a clear, dry night - the only person who looks worse than Kelly is the man who fired him.
Chip Kelly's gone, but his impact on Eagles roster will linger: David Murphy, Philadelphia Daily News
Jeff Lurie taking some (more) heat:
The point isn't that those moves will definitely prove to be smart, or that Lurie should not have made this decision, even if he thought not doing so would cause the franchise irreparable harm. The point is that he has only himself to blame; not just for last offseason's decision, but his initial one to hire Kelly away from Oregon, because anybody should have been able to see that Kelly was a guy who would accept only so many vetoes before demanding the things he ultimately did.
Coaching Targets – Early Edition: Tommy Lawlor, Iggles Blitz
Adam Gase, Hue Jackson, Josh McDaniels, and Sean McDermott are the names that Lawlor mentioned:
Kelly could not get the best out of this team. The new coach has to be able to do that. Finding someone who understands the psychology of an NFL locker room is important. You must be able to push the right buttons to win in this league. I do not see Lurie going with another college coach.
One thing I would love to see is the Eagles going back to the 4-3 defense. I miss that. From Reggie and the boys to Hugh and the boys to Trent and Derek Landri, I love seeing the Eagles play the 4-3.
Understanding the Chip Kelly Move: Tim McManus, Birds 24/7
Solid breakdown of the whole situation from McManus, Q&A style:
Our sense is that the Eagles, once it was determined that it wasn't going to work out with Kelly, wanted to get a jump on the process of finding a new coach as soon as possible. In-demand coaches can get plucked off the market quickly, and they wanted to make sure they were in position to land a desirable target.
National
Why the Chip Kelly experiment didn't work: Sheil Kapadia, ESPN.com
How about that for a segue? Sheil writes that Kelly’s strict adherence to his own philosophies (measurables, culture, etc.) was ultimately his downfall. It’s true that Kelly wasn’t particularly flexible:
He is a football lifer, and he will eventually find a new home. At some point, whether it's this offseason or down the road, he might even get another chance to coach in the NFL.
If and when that happens, though, it will be up to Kelly to examine why his tenure in Philadelphia didn't work. If he tries to bring the same philosophies to a new coaching stop -- harping on execution and hoping for a different outcome with new players -- the experiment once again will lead to unsatisfying results.
Chip Kelly needs to self-evaluate after shocking dismissal from Eagles: Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports
La Canfora writes that Jeffrey Lurie started to have doubts about Kelly a few weeks ago, and that the former Eagles coach (man, that feels so weird to write) had few allies in the building:
Lurie didn't go into his meeting with Kelly with the intention of firing him, I'm told. More, it was to take his temperature and continue to feel him out and gather information that would lead to his ultimate decision on what to do with his organization in 2016. Obviously, things went sideways and what Kelly had to say didn't mesh with the owner's vision, and Lurie became convinced that for as radical as a Week 17 firing might be perceived, it was time to do it. The fact that Kelly didn't seem inclined to scratch and claw to remain in his perch, sources said, did him no favors as well.
Philly’s Missed Opportunity: Peter King, The MMQB
King is b-u-m-m-e-d:
But something happened. A few things, maybe. And like with Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco last year, and Belichick with the Jets in 2000, a coach leaves early, with potential gains lost. I count this as one of the truly great missed opportunities in my 32 seasons covering the NFL. This should have worked. And because it didn't, a storied franchise starts from scratch, and a great college coach might go the Steve Spurrier route. Sad.
Eagles fire him, but Chip Kelly did this to himself: John Canzano, The Oregonian
The Oregon perspective, not all that much different from the Philly perspective:
He ignored rule No. 1 of coaching in professional sports -- talent rules. (Ask Luke Walton.) Kelly didn't struggle because his offense was solved or because his schemes were flawed. Kelly lost a bunch of games because the roster he put together was disjointed mess.
He blew it. It's on him. Three and out for Kelly, who went 26-21 as Eagles coach.
Exclusive - Chip Kelly tells Glazer 'I absolutely want to coach in the NFL’: Fox Sports
Will we get to see if this is in fact the case? Here is what Kelly apparently told Glazer:
"I don't want to go somewhere and be the GM. … I just want to go coach somewhere, somewhere where there's a GM and a personnel guy and I can just coach again."
In case you missed it at PhillyVoice
1. Jimmy wrote that the Eagles were right to part with Chip. Then again, he is one of the few people on the record who very clearly had that same stance before today.
2. Matt did an awesome job tracking down all of the Chip GIFs. Man, there were a lot of good ones.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann