BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) – Chip Kelly closed the chapter on his tenure in Philadelphia by taking shots at the team’s front-office structure and blaming his firing solely on his failure to win last season.
Speaking openly about his abrupt dismissal for the first time since the Eagles fired him Dec. 29, Kelly insisted he never demanded control over personnel decisions and distanced himself from contracts given to free agents DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell last year.
“You learn from what you did, how things worked and you move on and try to get better every day,” Kelly said at the NFC coaches’ breakfast Wednesday during the NFL owners’ meetings.
There were more reporters from Philadelphia gathered around Kelly’s table than the one for new Eagles coach Doug Pederson, who sat across the room. Kelly spent much of his 60-minute session talking about the Eagles instead of his new team, the San Francisco 49ers.
By the way, he hasn’t discussed Colin Kaepernick’s situation with the quarterback but made it clear he wants him to stay.