LeSean McCoy thinks Chip Kelly’s decision to trade him out of Philadelphia had something to do with the color of his skin. But perhaps it is actually about the jingle of his feet.
As noted by Matt Lombardo of NJ.com, Kelly said in 2008 that he has always believed in running backs who lower their shoulders and run hard into the line to pick up tough yardage, not running backs who try to make people miss and turn everything into a big play.
“The philosophy of the play is a tough running play,” Kelly said. “If the line can get up two yards on the defense, the back can, too. We want him to jam the ball into the hole and be a tough runner. We do not want a jingle-footed back trying to hit a home run. We want him to hit the ball into the line and get the tough yards. We are a blue-collar guy going to work. The line will have a hat on the five defenders in the box. The unblocked defenders on the perimeter are following the ballcarrier. If he gets downhill and runs hard, it is hard for htem to make the tackle. However, if he jiggles in the hole, they will make the tackle. When we talk to the back, we tell him it is speed through the hole, not speed to the hole. When the running back receives the ball, he is at 85-percent speed. As he gets the handoff and makes a decision to take the ball frontside or cut it back, he makes one cut. When he makes his cut to the line, he changes speeds and runs through the hole.”
The kind of running back Kelly is describing sounds a lot like DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, the two running backs Kelly acquired shortly after he traded McCoy to Buffalo. By moving on from McCoy and adding Murray and Mathews, Kelly was staying consistent to his longstanding offensive philosophy.