By Tom Sottnick
Archivist

After 14 seasons the Andy Reid era came to an end at the end of the regular season in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Eagles announced Wed Jan 16 that they have hired former Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly and are moving forward.

“I think it’s good to take a chance on someone who’s innovative,” said Neshaminy Social Studies teacher Christopher M. Capecci. The move was surprising as Kelly had said earlier after Interviewing with the Eagles and two other NFL teams he was staying at Oregon.

Kelly is most known for his last four years at Oregon. He led the ducks to 46 wins and only seven losses, with three Pac-12 titles. Kelly has lead the Ducks to a BCS bowl game every year he’s coached them, appearing in the 2010 Rose Bowl game, an appearance in the 2011 National Championship game, a win in the 2012 Rose Bowl game and most recently a win in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The one thing that may stick out about Kelly is his explosive offense that he ran at Oregon. ‘I think it was an extremely smart hire were going to kill it on offense now,” said Junior Brett Osborn. While he coached the Ducks he averaged 44 points per game and 467.54 yards per game on offense. Some aspects of Kelly’s offense, such as the high tempo, have been used most notably by the New England Patriots this year and has yielded great success as New England’s offense ranked first in points and yards per game.

The Eagles can now move forward with their new coach. While most Eagles fans are optimistic about the explosive offense and brilliant mind of their new coach it will remain to be seen if Kelly’s offense can translate to the NFL style of play.