49ers coach Chip Kelly met the media during breakfast at the league meetings on Wednesday, offering a chance for reporters to ask questions about the end of his tenure as coach of the Eagles before the 2015 season concluded.
Kelly said that he was “surprised” when word came from owner Jeffrey Lurie about his firing and disputed whether he asked for control over personnel before the 2015 season. Giving Kelly that control meant reducing now-executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman’s responsibilities and led to what he called “just a weird situation” that featured no direct communication between the two men.
Kelly said the setup led to him telling former personnel exec Ed Marynowitz what players he wanted with Marynowitz passing the word on to Roseman so that Roseman could negotiate contracts. Two of the biggest contracts went to cornerback Byron Maxwell and running back DeMarco Murray, both of whom Roseman traded this offseason after regaining control of personnel decisions.
“I didn’t like the way it was, but I didn’t ask for anything,” Kelly said, via Philly.com. “It’s [Lurie’s] organization and his team. He can run it however he wants to run it. It wasn’t like I’m walking out the door.”
Kelly said he didn’t think he and Roseman were “on the same page,” something that seems clear regardless of who’s take on how things went wrong you find most compelling. The Eagles have instituted a different system this year and plan to make more additions to the personnel department after the draft in hopes of finding the right mix to end the team’s long championship drought.