The full 90-man roster has reported to training camp in Philadelphia, which means preparation for the 2013 season is about to begin in earnest for the Eagles. Before veterans started rolling into the NovaCare Complex on Thursday though, assistant coaches were made available to speak to the media in the morning, and there will no doubt be some excellent stories to come out of those meetings.
But the money quote of the day so far comes from Eagles’ tight ends coach Ted Williams, who was asked what the offense will look like under Chip Kelly. Those of us who weren’t so sure the new head coach would try to bring a college-style offense to the NFL might want to think again. Williams, who is entering his 19th season on the Birds’ coaching staff, says it will look pretty much the same as it did at the University of Oregon.
Via Sheil Kapadia of Philly Mag’s Birds 24/7 blog:
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“I don’t think that anything’s going to change from what he knows,” Williams said. “It’ll be very, very similar to what you saw at Oregon because the play-calling… he needs to be comfortable with what he’s saying to the offense and how he’s communicating it. So you don’t just out of the box decide that you’re going to do something a certain way and you don’t feel comfortable with it. So it’s going to look like Oregon.”
And what about the zone read? Will that be a part of the offense even if the quarterback is Nick Foles?
“We haven’t decided that particular part of it,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say we haven’t run it, but we haven’t decided it. But it’ll look like Oregon to a degree based on what we do and how we want to do it and based on game-planning. How much of what we do depends on who we’re playing.”
Guess I should dive back into these FishDuck tutorial videos before this season really gets underway.
While one of the biggest concerns with the Kelly hire was that he would attempt to install a replica spread/zone read offense like what he did at Oregon, the news that is in fact what he’s been up to isn’t as scary as it might have sounded back in January. I think Chip has done enough interviews and press conferences by now to instill the idea that he’s not tied to any one way of doing things. For instance, we're not going to see as many read option runs from the quarterback if Nick Foles or Matt Barkley wins the job as opposed to Mike Vick, something Williams alludes to.
Kelly may start with his offense, but as he adapts to his personnel and the NFL, it can and most likely will evolve.
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Or maybe that’s just the excitement for the start of camp speaking. Everything with the Eagles is so new or different right now, and after 14 years of Andy Reid that’s not a bad thing, not even as it pertains to an offense some experts are divided on whether or not it can work at this level. Apparently we are going to find out one way or the other – and soon enough at that.
>> Williams On Eagles’ Offense: It’ll Look Like Oregon [Philly Mag]