The Philadelphia Eagles have “released” head coach Chip Kelly, according to a statement the team made tonight. The full statement reads:

Today, Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles, released Head Coach Chip Kelly. “We appreciate all the contributions that Chip Kelly made and wish him every success going forward,” said Lurie. Coach Pat Shurmur will be interim head coach for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. Ed Marynowitz, vice president of player personnel, was also released. Tom Donahoe, former GM of the Buffalo Bills and director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers and senior football advisor for the Eagles since 2012, will assume the role of senior director of player personnel. A press conference will be held Wednesday, December 30 at the NovaCare Complex at Noon with Lurie.


Kelly joined the Eagles in 2013, after four years as the head coach at Oregon, where he gained a reputation as a brilliant offensive innovator. And for a little while, his shtick worked in the NFL. He had the Eagles play incredibly fast, which resulted in a 10-6 record and playoff berth in his first season, and followed that up with another 10-6 record last year. But right now the team is just 6-9, and the main reason is because Chip Kelly—who won control over player personnel in the offseason—made a bunch of awful moves.


Whether or not the Eagles will be better because of Kelly’s firing, his firing is a blow for creativity in football. Maybe he’s a racist (or just a tyrant), but he made football fun, and tried out some zany things. Better to watch a bad but interesting team than a mediocre normal one.

Update, 7:38 p.m.:

This is going to be fun.

Update, 7:54 p.m.:

Eagles chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie weighs in, praising Eagles fans for their “consistent and enthusiastic support.”


Update, 8:37 p.m.: Cool old guy sits on his toilet, taunts Chip Kelly, brags about getting him fired:


Photo via Getty

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