March 23, 2016
Jimmy Kempski/for PhillyVoice
Chip was just as surprised as you when the Eagles fired him.
BOCA RATON, Fla. – I remember driving down the New Jersey Turnpike, when an alert popped up on my phone saying that the Eagles had "released" Chip Kelly. My night changed in an instant. I quickly had to get off the highway to learn more, and then write. The back corner of a Burger King at the Molly Pitcher rest stop near exit 8A became my temporary office.
So that's where I was when Kelly was let go by the Eagles with a game left on their schedule. Not that Chip Kelly's firing is on the same level as the JFK assassination, but Eagles fans can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. To most, Kelly's abrupt firing came as a surprise. At the NFL owners meetings, Kelly revealed that his firing was unexpected.
"I was surprised," said Kelly. "I had spent the whole day game planning and out at practice. It's not something I saw coming. It is what it is."
According to a source, Kelly was quickly ushered out of the NovaCare Complex after he was informed of the Eagles' decision of the news.
Kelly's Eagles won 10 games in each of his two years as head coach of the team. The 2013 season ended in a playoff loss at home to the Saints, but was regarded as a success, as the Eagles were not projected to win the division that year. They regressed in each of the next two seasons, with Kelly getting axed when the Eagles had a 6-9 record with one game remaining in the 2015 season.
