A few days ago, Chip Kelly was confident that his job as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles will remain with him despite them not reaching the playoffs for the second consecutive season, but the coach was relieved last Tuesday.
In Kelly's first season with the Eagles in 2013, the team finished with a 10–6 regular season record and was hailed as the National Football Conference (NFC) East champion, but lost in the Wild Card Playoffs versus the New Orleans Saints.
The Eagles again finished with the same record in the 2014 season, but failed to make it to the playoffs.
This 2015 season, the Eagles tried to improve their playoff chances in the tight NFC East but last Saturday's defeat to the Washington Redskins ended their postseason dreams.
Philadelphia is currently second in the division with a 6–9 record, with the remaining game in its schedule a division matchup versus the New York Giants.
Because of the recent elimination, the Eagles organization decided to sack Kelly with team owner Jeffrey Lurie saying, according to the team's website, "We appreciate all the contributions that Chip Kelly made and wish him every success going forward."
According to the report on the Eagles' website, along with Kelly, vice president of player personnel Ed Marynowitz was also fired.
Meanwhile, ESPN reported that Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will be taking over the head coaching duties with only one game left in the regular season.
Kelly provided a statement last Wednesday regarding his firing and a part of it read, "I'm grateful to Jeffrey Lurie for allowing me to coach his Philadelphia Eagles for the past three seasons. I deeply regret that we did not bring this great city and its fans the championship they deserve."
The 52-year-old coach then stated that he is blessed to work with Philadelphia's coaching staff and also addressed the players who mean so much to him.
