You'd have to be blind not to see that sweeping change has come to Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles under new coach Chip Kelly are doing things differently than the rest of the NFL, and in sharp contrast to life under former coach Andy Reid. Granted, everything is peaches in May, but center Jason Kelce insists Kelly is easier to work with.
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"With Andy -- especially with me coming in later in his career after he had built up such a reputation in Philly among the players in the locker room -- there was an aura around him where you never wanted to be yourself around him," Kelce told WPEN-FM, via Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com. "You always had to have this front up. You always had to be, 'Yes sir.' You had to be on your Ps and Qs. He was a hard man to kind of talk to and be loose around.
"It was always an uptight conversation whenever I had one with him. Whereas Chip is a lot more -- at least at this point -- one of the guys. He's still the head coach and you still have great respect for him, but he converses with everybody, he strikes up conversations. He's much more of a loose guy to be around than Andy was, that's for sure."
NFL.com's Albert Breer was on hand for this week's full-squad minicamp sessions in Philly, and noted that Kelly's methods are a tangible departure for any NFL team, but "sustaining the enthusiasm over months and years will be more challenging."
Kelly's approach worked wonders at Oregon, but Reid already has proven he knows how to win at the pro level, no matter what his players think of him.
It will be fascinating to watch Kelly maneuver the invariable confrontations and rocky waters of the NFL season ahead. From where we stand today, Kelce's observations are, if nothing else, encouraging for a team hoping to swing its fortunes around in the NFC East.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
