On Dec. 29, the Philadelphia Eagles announced the firing of their head coach and general manager, Chip Kelly. His 26-21 record in 3 seasons with the birds started out strong in 2013 with a 10-6 record and a playoff spot where they lost to the New Orleans Saints in the wild card game. The year after saw the same record, but felt the heat from fans as they missed the playoffs. Then, Chip Kelly assumed the role of general manager de facto. That meant that he had control of player operations as well as being head coach. People were thinking that this method would be as successful as the other two teams in the NFL who had the system, the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. It did not happen that way.
First of all, he let go of good players who deserved a second chance at the NFL. This past season was an example of how power can get the better of a person when they do not know how to control it. Despite a strong showing in the preseason, the regular season proved to be too much as the Eagles finished with a record of 7-9, securing Chip Kelly termination. Kelly was then signed this offseason by the 49ers to a four year deal. The Eagles considered a list of people to take Kelly’s place, like offensive coordinator and interim head coach Pat Shurmur, former New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin, and New York Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. Ultimately, the Eagles decided to hire Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson.
Pederson has been involved with the Eagles in the past. Back in 2009, Pederson was the Offensive quality control coordinator for Philadelphia. Pederson got promoted to the quarterback coach position in 2011. When Andy Reid got fired by the Eagles at the end of the 2012 season, he took most of his staff with him, including Pederson. On Jan. 19, Pederson was introduced to the Philadelphia media in an introductory press conference. ESPN was already ranking the Pederson’s hire as the worst in NFL history. Perhaps we can remember the old adage: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’
In contrast to the diehards’ predictions, former Philadelphia coaches and players like what has been done so far to improve the overall morale of the team. As Ron Jaworski, a former Eagles quarterback said, “I want to be transparent before I make any comment on Doug Pederson or the Eagles coaching search that I did assist the Eagles in the coaching search.” Nevertheless, this coming season will be quite an interesting one for all of
Natasha Chaillou 
Megan Keating 
Daniel Finegan