On Wednesday, the Eagles named Chip Kelly the 21st head coach in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is a sampling of what the big names in the football world think about Kelly ...
C Jason Kelce on the addition of Kelly: "He's a brilliant mind. We have a lot of weapons on the Eagles that kind of assimilates to what he was doing at Oregon.
TE Brent Celek on playing for Kelly: "I'm real excited. It's obvious by his track record in college how good he was."
DT Cullen Jenkins on Kelly's success: "He's a successful person. He's had a lot of success and anytime you have somebody like that and his desire, he's going to do whatever it takes for us to be as successful here as well.
WR DeSean Jackson (@DeseanJackson10) on twitter: "Let's get it! Congrats #CoachKelly #Eagles"
DE Brandon Graham (@BGraham54) on twitter: "Happy to have Chip Kelly!! Now it's time to get to work!"
S Kurt Coleman (@k4coleman) on twitter: "Welcome Chip Kelly to the Eagles family. Can't wait to see what he brings to the team in 2013!"
San Francisco 49ers RB LaMichael James on playing for Kelly: "It was always fun. He made me love football and was always energetic. Playing offense, I never got bored. We were always moving fast. He taught me a lot of life lessons on and off the field."
James on Kelly's energy and enthusiasm as a coach: "He was a fiery coach. One of the things I loved about him is that he's a player's coach. He trusted in us. He trusted in the system to get the job done and he always had our back. I can remember numerous times he always had my back, no matter what it was, and he always had the players' backs."
James on how he believes Kelly's offense will translate to the NFL: "You see everybody doing it now. You even see us using it. You see the Redskins using it. It's starting to form more toward that offense. Anytime you have dual threat quarterback, it puts pressure on the defense that they can do numerous things throwing or running the ball."
Former New Hampshire head coach Bill Bowles, under whom Kelly coached between 1994 and 1998: "He's bright enough to know you have to match your offense with the talent you have. Not all coaches have that — the ability to make changes or adaptations, and the foresight to analyze and evaluate the personnel you have, and create the best offense for your personnel."
ESPN College Football Analyst and former NFL lineman David Pollack: "I spent 2 hours watching tape w/Chip Kelly this fall & was as impressed w/him as any coach I have ever spent time with."
Sports Illustrated columnist Don Banks: "There are plenty of NFL coaches and club executives who believe Kelly will be savvy and flexible enough to adapt his style of up-tempo, wide-open offense to win in the NFL, and that its impact will spread within the league as other teams witness its effectiveness. As one club official told me recently, 'If the Patriots are already using some of Kelly's ideas, you know he's probably on the right track.'"
ESPN analyst and former head coach Jon Gruden: "This guy's a stud. This guy's a stand-up guy. He's the first guy to take credit when things go wrong, and I really believe he's going to be a dominant coach for a long time."
NFL Network analyst and former Eagles offensive lineman Brian Baldinger: "Chip is an innovator. He is a disciplinarian. He's very, very tough and close to the vest. He can be a tough guy to get to know. He's got a visor and his coaching face on 24-7. But there's a lot of things about Chip that I think can flat out work in the NFL."
NFL Network analyst and former NFL personnel executive Michael Lombardi: "Anybody who says Chip Kelly's offense won't work in the NFL, they really don't know Chip Kelly as a person. Chip Kelly's very smart, he's very analytical, and he'll adapt to the pro game and his talents as a leader will take over as a head coach. ... I like people that think outside the box. I like people that think differently."
Former New Hampshire head coach Bill Bowles, under whom Kelly coached between 1994 and 1998: "He's bright enough to know you have to match your offense with the talent you have. Not all coaches have that — the ability to make changes or adaptations, and the foresight to analyze and evaluate the personnel you have, and create the best offense for your personnel."
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, on Kelly's no-huddle offense: "I was interested to hear how he did it. I would say he expanded it to a different level and it was very interesting to understand what he was doing. Certainly I've learned a lot from talking to Chip about his experiences with it and how he does it and his procedure and all that."
Ravens tight end Ed Dickson, who played under Kelly at Oregon: "Chip Kelly is a mastermind."
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