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Philadelphia Eagles’ coach Chip Kelly is a difficult man to define. He’s been called an evil genius, an innovator, and just about everything in between. He’s the man who runs his practices like they’re on fast forward while top-40 music blares out of the stadium speakers. He’s the man that hands out customized smoothies. But most importantly, Kelly is the man who holds team culture in the highest of esteems, and that culture is going to be a huge factor for the Eagles’ 2015 season.
On 97.5 FM The Fanatic, former Eagle offensive lineman Jon Runyan offered up some cautious words for the Eagles this season, saying how chemistry between players is crucially important and how teams struggle while developing that amongst new players. It’s no secret the Eagles are fielding a very new team this season: players like Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews, Byron Maxwell, Eric Rowe, and Nelson Agholor are all new to the team and will be playing vital roles for the Eagles. They’ll have to learn how to play within each other’s games quickly if the Eagles stand a chance this season. Murray and Bradford will have to rekindle their chemistry from their college days in Oklahoma.
This is where Kelly’s culture will be a huge positive impact on the team. Kelly went out of his way to bring in not only good players, but players that are team-oriented with a strong work ethic. Jordan Matthews treats his practices like live-game situations. Agholor is reportedly already the first player in the building, working with Matthews on learning the offense. The already solid Lane Johnson put himself through MMA training that had him vomiting every day. Evan Mathis seems to be the only outlier left in the overhaul, which isn’t bad when you think about the pervasive mercenary mentality the Eagles’ locker room had at the end of Andy Reid’s tenure here. Outside of him, Kelly has got everyone focused on one thing — winning.
Not that players like that are unique to only the Eagles; there are plenty of players like that all over the league. But players like that, players that reflect that kind of team culture, are going to have more of an impact in Philadelphia than anywhere else this season. The offensive system works and the defense has been re-tooled and stands to be better than they were last year. The big question mark, outside of injuries, is if these players can gel quickly enough to make a run at it in 2015. With this kind of culture and hustle Kelly has made the norm here, that process is going to be sped up.
It’s certainly been a crazy offseason for the Eagles, with plenty of doubt and uncertainty as to what this season is going to have in store. If the Eagles ultimately wind up disappointing this year it’s not going to be for lack of trying. For the first time in a long time, it sounds like the team just about all pointed in the same direction. It’s definitely a refreshing thing to hear.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
