Andy Reid helped with Chip Kelly hire
Former Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid had a hand in helping the franchise land his successor in Chip Kelly.
Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history who was fired after a disappointing 4-12 season, reached out to Kelly, owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman in the club's first coaching search since the end of the 1998 season.
Kelly made it a point to mention Reid during his introductory news conference Thursday.
"One person I want to thank, in terms of advice in this whole thing, is Andy Reid," said Kelly, who decided to leave Oregon after going 46-7 in four seasons. "And the fact that Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here just told me what this organization is all about. There's not a classier guy. When Andy texted me (Wednesday) when I accepted the job,
I told him I had really, really, really big shoes to fill. And in typical Andy fashion he said, 'Just be yourself and you'll be fine.' So I publicly just want to thank Andy, because that really spoke to me about what this organization is all about."