NFL News & Rumors: Philadelphia Eagles Fire Chip Kelly; Is DeMarco Murray to Blame?

Dec 31, 2015 07:12 PM EST

The Philadelphia Eagles had been struggling ever since the NFL regular season started. This performance from the football squad was met by questions from the fans especially after the acquisition of DeMarco Murray. The excitement generated by the signing of the former Dallas Cowboys running back had been incredibly great that the Philadelphia Eagles' fans even went as far as taunting the Tony Romo squad with a banner during the latter's practice session.

While many described it as childish, the banter between the two NFL teams generated much attention. Hence, it had been a shock to the fans of the sport when both the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles failed to fulfill their promised successful season. For the Sam Bradford team, the disappointment pushed the front office to get rid of head coach Chip Kelly.

Kelly has been dubbed as one of the revolutionary coaches in the NFL. His unexpected moves in terms of acquiring football stars during the offseason, albeit frowned upon by the more conventional experts, had been thrilling to watch. However, it looks like the decisions he made failed to keep up with the expectations he set. The failure of the Philadelphia Eagles to once again bag a Super Bowl trophy eventually pushed Jeffrey Lurie to fire Kelly. The NFL team owner felt the need for change in the coaching staff - a necessity that saw the departure of the famed college football coach.

"You've got to open your heart to players and everybody you want to achieve peak performance," explained Lurie following the departure of Kelly from the NFL team, according to ESPN. The Philadelphia Eagles owner added, "I would call it a style of leadership that values information and all of the resources that are provided and at the same time values emotional intelligence. I think in today's world, a combination of all those factors creates the best chance to succeed."

Before this decision, Kelly had been reportedly encountering issues with Murray. The former Dallas Cowboys star had been claimed to be a difficult player for the NFL team. Despite his talent, Kelly refused to cater to the running back's demand for more playing time. This presumably pushed Murray to confront Lurie regarding his role in the Philadelphia Eagles roster. Sources now claim that this might have contributed to the departure of Kelly from the football squad.

"Among the things DeMarco Murray told owner Jeffrey Lurie weeks ago was that he had no confidence in Chip Kelly as head coach, I'm told," revealed Ian Rapoport, an NFL Media Insider.

Murray's alleged sentiments were echoed by another member of the Philadelphia Eagles roster. Lane Johnson shared, "I want to see a guy who really cares about his players and isn't so set in his ways so we can all go in the same direction." Johnson said. The offensive tackle added, "I think Chip had good intentions. I just think that he didn't have a good way to go about it, and sometimes it came off a little bit standoffish toward y'all. That's just his way. I don't know if he had anybody to confide in, but I think all in all, I know he cared about the players."