Chip Kelly - Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles

[General_Failure]

This ALS charity nonsense has gotten out of control.

[Rome]

[smeags]

hahaha thats farging awesome.

[Zanshin]

I'm just waiting for the study that shows that ice water on the skull is a driving factor in contracting ALS.

[ice grillin you]

I'm just waiting for the study that shows that ice water on the skull is a driving factor in contracting ALS.

if they do show a link i hope its a fast acting killing machine strain of als...like ebola

[BigEd76]

Chip brings in college professors for new ideas

Kelly, in his second NFL season after a revolutionary run at the University of Oregon, has made academics as much a part of the team as the long snapper. He leans on them all off-season for new ideas and has them on speed dial when he needs a quick fix, according to those who have interacted with the Eagles coach.

"Chip says, 'This guy, with his social sciences or psychology or statistical model or his understanding of African-American history, let's bring him in and see if there's even one idea or one sentence that is a piece of trying to get done what I'm trying to accomplish,' " said Harry Edwards, a professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley and expert on race relations who has advised Kelly. "He is always searching for the missing piece and he realizes it could be a piece you can't find in the athletic arena."

Kelly is so devoted to the idea that one of his top lieutenants told professors that Kelly's goal is to have a sort of academic conference, where Kelly is essentially the only beneficiary. (Imagine, if you'd like to laugh, a TED Talk with Kelly as the only audience member.)

Lots of NFL teams bring in outsiders, but mostly to help with things like motivation or provide a PR boost. These may be ex-players or coaches, or a famous athlete from another sport. They don't bring in K. Anders Ericsson, a University of Stockholm graduate who is an eminent scholar in Florida State University's cognitive psychology department. The Eagles did.

Ericsson was called in by the Eagles this summer to discuss one of his specialties—expert performance. He has a fairly typical story for an expert conscripted to advise the Eagles.

He first met personally with coaches. That is where he learned that the trait they prize in players is the ability to verbally articulate game situations, which they feel leads to better conversations about game situations and eventually a better team. Ericsson then addressed the entire staff in a 90-minute session in which Kelly tried to get to the heart of the matter. Kelly wanted Ericsson to understand the basic training methods of the Eagles, then ask of the professor, "What could be done differently?"

Ericsson's answer is tied to another Kelly secret. The Eagles use memory devices to get players to memorize formations. Safety Malcolm Jenkins said that during meetings, coaches will show an opponent's formation on a screen, and players will attempt to remember it and yell the play call they would use against it. Then, Jenkins said, snapping his fingers, "They start to flash it quicker and quicker. There's less time to process. And so you build those same cognitive skills where it's the same as getting a mental rep on the field."

Ericsson thought this a noble effort, but in his opinion, it wasn't enough. He recommended that the situations be harder to understand—to go beyond the formations and "get them to respond to video clips of more complex scenarios instead of simple, fast recognitions," he said. "You want to encourage players to be more analytical and open them up to more feedback on what they aren't paying attention to."

What, exactly, Kelly took from these meetings isn't yet clear. He declined to speak on the matter, as did a team spokesman and Kelly's chief of staff, James Harris, who is in charge of the program, which Ericsson said features "weekly seminars to stimulate thinking." While Kelly was at Oregon, it was reported that he worked with one of the school's statistics professors. When asked if he would expand his network to engineering professors, Kelly said, "I'd love to get with those guys." Kelly hasn't spoken about it since.

[ice grillin you]

Eagles are now 3-5 under Chip Kelly when trailing by at least 14 pts at any point in any game. in 14 years under Andy Reid, Eagles were 2-47 in such games

[PhillyPhreak54]

Chip has been a really outstanding hire. I love out of the box thinking. The sports science and all of the different things he does are refreshing when compared to the usual song and dance of NFL coaches.

He's got his blind spots though...namely the "plug and play" at WR thing.

[BigEd76]

What were the two wins under Andy?  Miracle II and.....?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Oooh good question....

GB Monday Nighter when Pinky scored in the rain?

[ice grillin you]

foles had a big comeback down in tampa but i dont know if it was exactly 14 or more

[BigEd76]

ah, found it.  The game at KC in 2005

[SD]

What were the two wins under Andy?  Miracle II and.....?

They were down like 28 to KC I think in 2005 and came back and somehow won

[Sgt PSN]

What were the two wins under Andy?  Miracle II and.....?

They were down like 28 to KC I think in 2005 and came back and somehow won

Wasn't nearly that bad.  They were down 17 at the half, which was the biggest halftime lead the Chiefs ever blew at Arrowhead (to lose a game).  Chuggie and I were there and so was Demon and Phanatic.  I remember LJ Smith had a TD and did some stupid celebration where he was shooting fake arrows with a fake bow.....or something like that.  I think Sheldon Brown had a pick 6.....or a pick with a big return. 

[MDS]

todd france was the kicker that game

todd france