Chip Kelly Not Off of Phillys Radar Just Yet, and Other Interview Updates

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Reports of Chip Kelly accepting Cleveland’s head coaching
job began leaking in on Friday evening, before another NFL team even had the
chance to meet with him, but those might have been greatly exaggerated. The
spread offense mastermind still plans to meet with the Eagles on Saturday.

Kelly also went on to meet with Buffalo last night.

That being said, the Browns could still be the favorites to
nab the University of Oregon coach. Their meeting was said to last five hours,
and it kind of sounds like the organization made a preliminary offer of sorts. Plus,
following the Fiesta Bowl Kelly remarked he would prefer to reach a decision on
a job quickly – at least for the Eagles’ part in this, their search seems to be
on a more deliberate schedule.

I could see Jeff Lurie being turned off by Chip’s apparent priority
that the process be expedited, or simply not so infatuated with the guy to
cancel upcoming interviews. Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but the end result appears to be inevitable.

Speaking of which, the Eagles requested and received permission on Friday
to meet with two more potential candidates. Bruce Arians, who served
as the Indianapolis Colts’ interim head coach for most of the season, and Gus
Bradley, defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks are free to speak to
the Birds’ brass once their respective teams are eliminated from the
postseason.

Adam Schefter is also reporting the team will request
permission
from the Cincinnati Bengals for offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.
Again, that’s Jay, not Jon – sorry. The Daily News also has Syracuse University's Doug Marrone on the list.

So unless Lurie falls in love with Kelly or Mike McCoy this
weekend, it seems we could be in for another week of this stuff at least – not that
that’s a bad thing. Considering the far-reaching impact this will have on the
franchise for years to come, I prefer the calculated approach of talking to
multiple coaches as opposed to locking in on one.

In other words, I won’t be sad if Chip Kelly forces himself
to Cleveland.

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