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Chip Kelly's sudden firing suggests some difficult truths

PHILADELPHIA -- On Monday, Chip Kelly was as self-assured as ever, dismissing the whole concept of time of possession and declaring his version of the football gospel according to Chip.

On Tuesday, Kelly was fired.

The stunning news broke with a brief statement from the Philadelphia Eagles. Owner Jeff Lurie, who hired Kelly in 2013 and promoted him to chief of player personnel just a year ago, dismissed Kelly with one game remaining in the 2015 regular season.

The sudden firing reveals a truth about Kelly: He is, as some of the Eagles he sent packing have intimated, a difficult character to be around.

Kelly has many of the personality traits of New England coach Bill Belichick. He’s self-confident bordering on arrogant, and he doesn’t suffer fools very well. And since he is pretty sure he’s the smartest guy in every room, the supply of those he considers fools is endless.

The difference is that Belichick’s team has won four Super Bowls and is almost certain to win at least 12 games in every season. Kelly won 10 games in each of his first two seasons, but he had not won a playoff game. And he was 6-9 this season, his first since Lurie handed him full control of personnel decisions.

The team that Kelly assembled this year never quite came together. The Eagles lost three of their first four games. Running back DeMarco Murray, the player Kelly signed to a $40 million contract to replace the traded LeSean McCoy, was ineffective early and then was awkwardly benched.

After the Eagles’ 35-28 upset of the New England Patriots on Dec. 6, Murray sat next to Lurie on the short flight home. He managed to convey his feelings about being benched and barely getting to carry the football.

Three weeks later, Kelly was out.

Lurie will explain his decision and the timing during a Wednesday press conference. There already is word that the owner met with players during recent weeks and asked their opinions about Kelly and his unorthodox approach to practice and training.

Evidently, Lurie didn’t like what he heard.

And there already is a record of what some players think of Kelly. They are players who were released or traded away, to be sure. But their opinions may still be reflective of the way current players feel.

The most extreme of those opinions was McCoy’s contention that Kelly “got rid of all the good players ... especially all the good black players.” McCoy has not backed down from that comment.

Other players put it differently. Cornerback Brandon Boykin, after being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, said he didn’t consider race an issue with Kelly. But, he said, the coach wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy.

“There were times he just wouldn't talk to people,” Boykin said. “You would walk down the hallway, he wouldn't say anything to you."

Kelly’s makeover of the roster this year wasn’t without consequences. He brought in five new starters on offense and another five on defense. Most of them -- from Murray to Sam Bradford to Kiko Alonso to Byron Maxwell -- were veterans who have played for other coaches. They were accustomed to NFL business as usual.

In Philadelphia, they had to practice on Tuesday, normally the players’ day off. They also had a full, high-tempo practice on the day before games. That resulted from Kelly’s sports science-based conviction that exertion a day before competition was a good idea.

Some players bought into Kelly’s methods completely. Others were not so sure. Last year, cornerback Cary Williams said he thought Kelly’s schedule was robbing the players of their legs on game days. Practices were the equivalent of an extra game or two per week, Williams said.

Like Williams, many of Kelly’s 2015 additions already had NFL experience. While none of them made comments as damning as Williams did, it is reasonable to assume that some players would feel as Williams did, especially when the team got off to a 1-3 start.

Lurie has been aware of all the dissent, from Williams to McCoy to Boykin. Earlier this year, he was defending Kelly and dismissing the criticism.

Now, after soliciting opinions from several players, Lurie apparently has changed his mind. The man Lurie wooed away from the University of Oregon, the same man Lurie later handed complete control of personnel decisions, was out.

The Chip Kelly era ended Tuesday. The Eagles’ next era begins now.