For the first time ever, the biggest sports star in Philadelphia is not a player. He is a football-loving innovator with an obsession for speed. He is elusive and combative, but also charming and funny. He is a genius, unless he’s a fraud.

The biggest sports star in Philadelphia is Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

As someone who has been talking sports on the radio in America’s most passionate city for the past 25 years, I feel as qualified as anyone to make that bold statement. I understand that the players are the game. They sell the tickets. They create the buzz. They are the reason we all love sports. I get it.

The appeal of Kelly, both here and outside the city, is simple. In baseball parlance, chicks dig the long ball. Kelly is a coach (and now GM) who knows only how to swing for the fences.

But they are all riding in the backseat of Chip Kelly’s juggernaut right now, overshadowed by an experiment that is captivating the country. During the NFL owners’ meetings last week, two photos told the story. One showed two-time Super Bowl champ Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants with no interviewers, while Kelly faced a crowd of reporters three-deep around his table.

The appeal of Kelly, both here and outside the city, is simple. In baseball parlance, chicks dig the long ball. Kelly is a coach (and now GM) who knows only how to swing for the fences. If he connects, he’s going to hit a home run that will change football. If he misses, he will be one of the most spectacular failures in NFL history.

In just the past few months, he has managed to push out Eagles owner Jeff Lurie’s best friend and closest confidant, Howie Roseman, and then traded away the team’s all-time leading rusher, LeSean McCoy. Along the way, he also dumped his starting quarterback (Nick Foles), the longest-tenured Eagle (Trent Cole) and his best receiver (Jeremy Maclin).

Why did he do all of this? Well, that’s where Kelly’s mysterious nature enhances the story. Was Kelly uncomfortable with Roseman as his GM? He says no; Lurie says yes. Did McCoy’s dancing style frustrate the coach? Kelly denies the theory; Lurie volunteered it. Does Kelly play favorites? Not at all, he insists, while harboring nine Oregon players on his roster.

Even more puzzling than the conflicting answers provided last week was the attitude that accompanied them. Although he is now our biggest sports star, he despises the spotlight. This is not another Buddy Ryan blustering his way onto the cover of magazines. Kelly actually referred to the mandated interview session last week as “my annual trip to the dentist.”

And yet, he is the man now. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the dominant coaches and managers in recent Philadelphia sports history and compare their stature with our superstars.

Ryan was huge in the mid-1980s, but he wasn’t as big as Randall Cunningham or Reggie White – not to mention a fellow named Mike Schmidt on the Phillies. Larry Brown? Uh, not while Allen Iverson was around. Charlie Manuel was simply the enabler for Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. None of them was as important as Donovan McNabb back then anyway.

Before that, there was always a marquee star who dominated the Philadelphia sports conversation. Wilt Chamberlain, Steve Carlton, Bobby Clarke, Pete Rose, Julius Erving, Eric Lindros, Brian Dawkins, Iverson, McNabb – an unbroken chain of local heroes from 1960 to 2012.

Today, Utley is limping to the finish line of his career, Claude Giroux is not even the best player on the Flyers anymore, Nerlens Noel is much too young, and DeMarco Murray hasn’t played a game yet for the Eagles.

Last Friday, I conducted an Internet poll on my WIP radio show offering those four player names and Kelly to determine which is the biggest sports star in Philadelphia right now. Kelly lapped the field with 64 percent of the vote. Utley was second, with 23 percent.

Chip Kelly owns the hearts and minds of America’s most passionate sports city, whether he likes it or not. He’s either going to end the Eagles’ 55-year championship drought – soon – or he’s going to fail like no coach has ever failed here.

Buckle yourself in, Philadelphia. This is going to be one of the craziest sports rides we will ever take.

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Jimmy Rollins lived a lie for the 15 years he was a Phillie. He could never be himself because of the relentless scrutiny of a sports city always looking for flaws. The Jimmy Rollins who won the National League MVP in 2007, who led the Phils to a 2008 championship, was never comfortable here.

“The city (of Philadelphia) being blue-collar, it’s not conducive for a superstar,” he told Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com last week. “You can be good, but you’ve got to be blue-collar along the way, keep your mouth shut, just go and work.”

Oh, please. Rollins didn’t just move from Philadelphia to Los Angeles last winter, his mind apparently has taken permanent residence in Disneyland. The man who was the face of the most successful era in Phillies history, was a tortured soul? Really?

No, not really. Rollins was the sole cause of his slightly tarnished image here. It was never a question of “being blue collar” for Rollins, not unless blue-collar fans are the only ones who require that their stars play the game the right way. Rollins is the best shortstop in Phillies history, but he is also a selfish player.

The biggest flaw in his game was his refusal to hustle consistently. In Jimmy’s world, it is too demanding to ask for him to run hard four or five times a game – too “blue-collar.” And it is also unfair to ask a lifelong leadoff hitter to show discipline at the plate, take pitches, get on base. Jimmy did things Jimmy’s way.

Well, now he’s in a city where they will love him for who he is, embrace him in this twilight of his career. Until he doesn’t run and a pop-up is dropped, until he swings at the first pitch after the previous two batters have walked.

Then he’s going to find out the truth about Philadelphia. We were not too demanding of him. He was not demanding enough of himself.

***

The debate over Nerlens Noel’s sudden candidacy for NBA rookie of the year has highlighted just how ridiculous life has become for Sixers fans. First of all, Noel is not going to beat Andrew Wiggins of Minnesota. Wiggins is averaging 16 points per game, to Noel’s 10. Wiggins is the No. 1 pick in the draft. Noel is not. It’s not going to happen.

The real story here is why any Sixers fan would want the promising young center to win the award anyway. I don’t have to remind anyone who won it last season, do I? It was Michael Carter-Williams, the former Sixers point guard who now resides in Milwaukee.

If Noel continues to improve, how can any fan trust that he will be here in five years, or two, or one? If there is one thing we know about GM Sam Hinkie and his analytics system, it is that players are just numbers on a computer screen, commodities to be traded and sold like penny stocks.

Sixers fans may be enjoying the brilliant recent work of Noel – especially that 30-point, 14 rebound effort last week against the Clippers – but Hinkie’s track record suggests Noel is here only until the next attractive trade offer, the next juicy package of draft picks. Need I remind everyone that there were trade rumors about Noel as recently as last December?

Before you get attached to the likeable, entertaining young star, keep in mind the reality of the situation. Noel is excelling right now at center, a position Joel Embiid is projected to play next season. Will Noel be as effective at power forward? And what happens if the Sixers win the lottery and have a chance to draft Jahlil Okafor of Duke, another big man? What then?

In other words, hold off on buying that Nerlens Noel jersey. He’s not going to win the rookie of the year award, and he may not even be here next season.

***

And finally . . . 

•    Jerry Jones has always been a boob, but never more than last week, when the Dallas Cowboys owner justified his signing of defensive end Greg Hardy by saying he wanted to stimulate debate over domestic abuse. Hardy’s undeniable talents as a pass rusher were not the story here. No, it was about the rights of women. Does Jones think we’re all as stupid as Cowboys fans?

•    How cheap are the NFL owners? They rejected a rule change that would have allowed challenges on all officiating calls because they wouldn’t pay for four extra cameras at every NFL venue? Seriously? By all accounts, the decision made New England coach Bill Belichick go ballistic. For once, the grump was right.

•    The next Flyers coach – goodbye, Craig Berube – really needs to emphasize success in shootouts. Not only did their 3-10 shootout record this season push them right out of the playoff race, but the Flyers are the worst NHL team, by far, in the 10-year history of the tie-breaking system.

•    Patrick Corcoran provided one of the biggest thrills of the Sixers season last Friday night. The fan came out of the crowd and swished a half-court shot that won him tickets to every game next year. Hmmm. Does anyone really want to go to every Sixers game next season? Maybe it’s time for the fans to start tanking, too.

•    The Phillies will open the new baseball season here next Monday. In case you were wondering.