PHOENIX – At one point Wednesday, someone asked Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly a question about scheme and talent, and how to fit the two together. This was standard brain-picking at the NFL owners' meetings. Kelly listened with a blank face, and then shot back, "That's the $64,000 question right there."

If you had listened to Kelly for even a few minutes – or a solid hour, as a few dozen reporters had – you would have come to realize this is a man who has never heard a question he can't answer. He exudes that confidence, that ego, that bring it on, I'm locked and loaded, and smarter than you. So when Kelly says, "That's the $64,000 question right there," two things come to mind.

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First: He already has the $64,000 answer.

Second: You better have your checkbook because you never know with this guy.

What has become crystal clear about Kelly after this offseason is that he is a man who has no qualms betting on himself, his way, his answers, his timeline. And not just a small wager, either. Since taking over the dominant power position as both coach and general manager, he wasted little time discarding his aces and then plowing all his chips into the middle of the table. LeSean McCoy? Gone. Nick Foles? Out. Jeremy Maclin? See ya later.

Those stunning and aggressive roster moves defined this offseason, overshadowing the Ndamukong Suh signing, and dwarfing even the most assertive lineup tune-ups. Indeed, March has been equally divided into two parts: Asking what on earth Kelly was doing and listening as he brushed off doubters with titanium-plated confidence.

It's been a while since we've seen a coach like this, one with a monstrous appetite to inflict roster change at the highest levels of the depth chart, and the ego to never waver in the mission. This is the stuff of Jimmy Johnson during his re-mastering of the Dallas Cowboys. A philosophy where no cow was too sacred, no roster move too crazy, and no question that couldn't be answered by the master plan.

That comparison couldn't have been sweeter than when Kelly conjured the first chapter of the Jimmy Johnson history on Wednesday. Talking about his ideology of building through the draft, Kelly made a reference to the titanic Herschel Walker trade, which included 18 players and draft picks, and ultimately laid the foundation for a Cowboys three-ring dynasty.

"Philosophically? More players are better than one player," Kelly said. "The history of the game – study all the trades. What set the Cowboys going forward? They traded one player for multiple players. It's not an exact science, the draft; it's a better chance of hitting if you have more draft picks than if you have less draft picks."

That nugget came in the middle of Kelly railing on the media for constantly talking up an Eagles draft-day trade for Marcus Mariota. Which he says won't happen. Unless it comes with a cheap price tag. Which was hilarious because it suggests at least some level of interest. And yet, Kelly acted as if he'd been victimized by even talking about Mariota, his former quarterback at Oregon.

"How come no one asked Jim Harbaugh about trading up for Andrew Luck?" Kelly said. "Same scenario. Identical scenario. I never heard a word about, 'Jim, are you trading up to get Andrew Luck?'"

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