Eagles fans are having to get used to the phrase “there’s science behind why we do that” for the first time ever. Football coaches just don’t say things like that. Can you imagine Buddy Ryan ever saying “science”? Clearly Chip Kelly is a very different kind of coach.

Someone in the previous comments section brought up the question of whether Kelly and his love of science is a good thing. That’s a very reasonable question. Science in general is a good thing, but we’ve also seen junk science mixed into sports over the years with some really erratic results.

I think Kelly uses “science” as a catch-all word. To him it means a combination of logic, math, psychology, nutrition and…science.

Sure feels like some people hear the word science and picture Chip Kelly talking to a guy in a lab coat in a room full of chimpanzees where loud music is blaring. “So tell me doc, personalized smoothies plus loud pop music will definitely win us a Super Bowl?”

Kelly is keeping things much simpler. He loves to ask “why”. That’s a simple, but powerful question. Kelly is trying to figure out why coaches do things a certain way. He’s not looking to be the smartest guy in the world. Kelly wants to find smart guys and steal ideas from them. He wants to build the smartest program he can.

Think about Kelly’s attitude in regard to how he teaches players. Kelly teaches them quickly and focuses on the smartest players. This puts pressure on the other guys to keep up. Most coaches are just the opposite, trying to teach the whole group and making sure everyone is on the same page. I can’t tell you what made Kelly choose this method of coaching, but there is a reason for it. Maybe he read educational journals and saw this is something teachers had success with. Maybe it is something he picked up from a successful, but under the radar coach (lower level football). Maybe it comes from another sport. There are any number of ways he could have gotten the idea, but Chip has used it for years and it has delivered results so he sticks with it.

The true scientific method is about testing and studying results. Failure isn’t a bad thing. You learn from it and move on. I’m sure Kelly has tried things that have failed. A good coach, like a good scientist, then focuses on why the method didn’t work. Can it be changed to make it work or is it simply an idea that won’t work?

Chip’s ideas all seem perfectly logical to me. He’s cutting edge, but in a reasonable way. He is trying to get the players to eat better, but it isn’t as if he’s forcing them to go vegan. The smoothies don’t have crazy ingredients. If they were wheat germ shakes or something crazy like that, I might feel different.

I have no problem with a football coaching trying to take a logical approach to running a team. Far too often coaches do things because “that is just the ways things are supposed to be done”. Chip doesn’t care about the past. He wants results. If Paul Brown had an idea that worked well in 1948 and still does, let’s use it. However, don’t be beholden to it. If some D3 coach has an interesting idea that contradicts old school thinking but makes sense to you, try it out.

The best coaches usually shake things up with their ideas. Paul Brown did so much that you can’t choose just one thing. Tom Landry created the 4-3 defense and was innovative on offense. Bill Walsh created the West Coast Offense. Jimmy Johnson brought an emphasis on speed to the NFL.

I know there are other coaches who had new ideas that failed. The key here isn’t that you have to be innovative. Change for the sake of change isn’t a good thing. And here is where Kelly is so smart. He does embrace some very basic ideas. Big guys beat up little guys. That’s not exactly cutting edge. Kelly’s offense is built around the run game. That’s Football 101.

Kelly uses science to take these basic concepts and figure out a way to make them work better. How can I make my players bigger and stronger? How can I figure out a way to run the football in a more favorable situation?

As long as Kelly is using science the right way, I don’t see the harm in how he does things. I think science becomes an issue when you start with a conclusion and work backwards. Kelly isn’t doing that. He has no agenda that I can see. Scientists want answers. Kelly seems to have the same attitude. Rather than looking for a specific answer to back up his ideas, he is looking for the best ideas because he is focused on getting good results.

Andy Reid, Ray Rhodes, Rich Kotite and Buddy Ryan were all first time head coaches. Ryan had one year when he ran a high school team, but that was in 1959. He took over the Eagles in 1986. That experience was hardly relevant. Kelly comes in here, having been the Oregon coach for 4 years and enjoying great success (46-7).

Kelly’s ideas work and they work at the team level. The question now is if they work in the NFL. Because Kelly is willing to listen to science and be honest about the results, I tend to think they will. Kelly is willing to deal with reality. He’s not pushing a philosophy onto the world. His only agenda is finding out what helps his team to play better and win games.

It will be interesting to someday get answers from Chip on where the ideas come from. I don’t think that is going to happen until he steps away from coaching. Hopefully that will be at the end of a long, successful run as head of the Eagles.

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From the previous comments section, ATG offered up some interesting ideas:

“I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to putting leaches in the soaking tubs to remove excess fluids, but if he starts burning cheerleaders at the stake to find out if they are witches, I’m going to have to draw a line.”

Now that’s what I call science.

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Jason over at BGN has a funny Twitter story involving fans, Jason Kelce and Evan Mathis.

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Someone asked me about Emil Igwenagu. He is in the running for a spot as the H-back/F-TE. James Casey will be the starter. Then you have Iggy, Clay Harbor, Derek Carrier and Will Shaw battling for a possible spot. We may or may not keep 4 TEs. Someone needs to step up and win the job. Iggy isn’t a great athlete, but he can block and that does have value in Kelly’s offense.

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PE.com has an interview with Brandon Graham. The most interesting part is when he talks about last year’s defense and the fact that no one was comfortable getting on other guys. There are a variety of reasons for that, but it is a huge point. The best units police themselves. They hold each other accountable.

I do think Trent Cole will be different this year, in terms of attitude. Jim Washburn had the DL like its own little world. I think DeMeco Ryans will be a big time leader. He’s now in Year 2 and will be more comfortable about confronting players that aren’t doing what they should. Cary Williams and Patrick Chung come over from teams that were in the last 2 Super Bowls. That can’t hurt.

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