If there's one former coach or player that is universally hated in the city of Philadelphia, it's former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.
The head coach from 2013-2015 took over a team with plenty of young talent and won the division is first year running the team. Then he got so bold that he alone could fix everything and shipped that young talent for spare parts.
A young roster filled with talent like LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin was shipped out for mediocre talents and it sent the Eagles into a standstill of development. Along the way, Kelly used the media to spread unsubstantiated rumors about certain players.
The culture Kelly built in Philadelphia was awful. His time with the Eagles was a disaster.
But since his return to college, it appears some players have softened on the belief of what the coach actually is.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, in his introductory press conference after being traded to Philadelphia, explained his relationship was like with the former UCLA head coach.
"Amazing," DTR responded when asked about playing for Kelly. "Chip is one of my all-time favorite coaches, someone that was really the first guy to take a chance on me and help me build throughout my college career to be able to get to this point in the pros.
"So I have nothing but good things to say about Coach Kelly."
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Those comments won't endear DTR to the fans of Philadelphia. Not after all the struggles Kelly put the organization through.
But they do highlight the fact that it's been almost a decade since Kelly manned an NFL sideline as the head honcho. Perhaps he learned from the mistakes he made with the Eagles.
It won't matter much to the Philadelphia fanbase at least.
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This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM.