We learned something new about Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s private life last week when Kent Babb of the Washington Post found that Kelly had been married for seven years before rising to the highest levels of his profession.
There wasn’t much to glean about Kelly’s work with the Eagles by this piece of information, which was also true of previous attempts to contact members of Kelly’s inner circle that didn’t sit well with Kelly. Before the revelation about his marital past, Kelly said he doesn’t think friends or family “should be bothered or have to answer questions about me” and used a pop culture reference that shows he’s not all football all the time to explain why he didn’t think there was anything unusual about that approach.
“I think most people do [keep their private lives private], don’t they? Unless you’re a Kardashian,” Kelly said, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Kelly’s view about his professional life isn’t too different. He says he subscribes to a Navy SEAL point of view that “I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor do I seek recognition for my actions.” That’s not really the norm in the NFL, but there’s no one in Philly outside of owner Jeff Lurie who outranks Kelly and can tell him to do things a different way.
Kelly’s found an approach that works for him and outside views of that approach will ultimately be determined by how Kelly’s team fares on the field. If they win, his elusiveness will be seen as part of the reason why but it will be pointed to as a negative if the Eagles don’t improve after finishing out of the playoffs last year.