Bill Belichick throws his support behind Chip Kelly the GM

Asked on Thursday morning if he follows coaching changes this time of year, Belichick began answering before the question was even completed.

An anonymous Eagles player also cited Kelly’s inflexibility and refusal to listen to others as a huge issue, a sentiment which Johnson echoed.

“I actually got a call from Trey Burton”, said Matthews. With Johnson being Kelly’s very first draft pick as a head coach, one would think that Johnson would miss Kelly, after Kelly was sacked by the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday. “He does a great job and he’s done a great job with that team”, Belichick said, per ESPN. It was a season of change for the Eagles, as a host of moves by Kelly in the off-season backfired in a second straight year without the playoffs. Or he felt sorry for Kelly, who took a pummeling on social media before, during and after his firing.

“I handle the contracts, I negotiate the contracts, I recruit the players”, Kelly said. “To the extent that we are able, we will try to keep you informed as we go through this process”, said Lurie. Taking his place in an interim basis is offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who will be manning the sidelines for Philadelphia’s regular season finale against the New York Giants. They do not like Chip Kelly. It’s disappointing to see, you know, Josh [McDaniels] in Denver…

Belichick dropped the mic with a surprising defense of Kelly’s personnel moves.

Like most of his teammates, Bradford said he was stunned when the Eagles fired Kelly on Tuesday night.

Chip Kelly may be out of a job, but he has a supporter in Bill Belichick.

“But it is disappointing to look at coaches like Coach [Greg] Schiano, or Coach [Mike] Shanahan, or Coach Kelly, or guys like that”, Belichick added. They’ve lost several games by a lopsided margin and players had lost confidence in Kelly. Donahoe’s new post is senior director of player personnel. “I think he’s a good guy and I think some of the things he does, his forward-thinking, the way he handles practices and things like that; I’ve tried to incorporate some of it, maybe not all of it, but some of the things, some of his ideas”.

The Eagles (6-9) were eliminated from playoff contention for the second season in a row with a 38-24 loss to the Washington Redskins last Saturday night.

Hasselbeck said he knows Kelly “fairly well”, the result of both men coming from New England and Kelly recruiting Matt Hasselbeck’s younger brother, Tim, when Kelly was coaching at the University of New Hampshire.