It's a stunning turn of events 10 days after Philadelphia's pursuit of Kelly fizzled in the wake of Oregon's Fiesta Bowl victory. Countless reports said that Kelly chose to stay at Oregon. He re-committed to the school and began to operate as the team's coach again. But the Eagles didn't give up pursuing their man. ESPN's Chris Mortenson broke the story.
The media spotlight moved on to the other coaches Philadelphia met with, including former Arizona Cardinalscoach Ken Whisenhunt, NFL Network analyst Brian Billick, and Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
Time will tell why things changed. Perhaps Kelly simply had a change of heart. Perhaps the Eaglessweetened the deal enough to make Kelly reconsider. Maybe Kelly's deal to stay at Oregon wasn't quite what he hoped.
No matter the reason, this has to be a gratifying moment for the Eagles organization. Despite a previous public statement from the Eagles that said they had no regrets after pursuing three college head coaches, Kelly was their top choice all along. Now they have him.
Kelly will bring an innovative, up-tempo offense to the NFL. (First question for Kelly: Will he keepMichael Vick?) It's an offense that includes a lot of change of direction and unpredictability. Kelly has shown that skill set and them some during the last two weeks as he spoke to NFL teams and re-committed to Oregon.
