Few teams are going through the changes the Philadelphia Eagles are heading into the 2013 season. Gone is Andy Reid, who patrolled the sidelines in Philly for 14 years, taking the team to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl during that span.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie replaced Reid with Chip Kelly, who will try to adapt to the professional game after building a dominant team at the University of Oregon through a potent spread offense and some occasionally unpredictable coaching decisions. How his style works in the NFL is one of the most interesting open questions out there as the 2013 season gets underway.

Eliot Shorr-Parks, a long-time Eagles reporter and an editor at Bleeding Green Nation, acknowledges that it’s too early to say what the answers will be to some of the questions. Quarterback position? At this point, who knows who calls the signals for Philadelphia in 2013. The new 3-4 defense? The look of that alignment is still up in the air, as well.

Shorr-Parks joined us to share his early observations on what is sure to be an interesting 2013 for the Eagles.

Zoneblitz: Was moving on from Andy Reid the obvious move at the end of 2012 and what are your reflections on his years running the Eagles?

Shorr-Parks: The decision to move on from Andy Reid was an obvious and easy one for owner Jeff Lurie, with most of the reasoning being on the field. The truth is that while the Eagles do have talent, they lacked it in key positions that would have done in any coach. Of course part of the blame could be put on Reid since his finger prints are on every single aspect of this team.

The real reason to fire Reid, however, was off the field. The fans would simply not have accepted another year. At the end of the day the Eagles are a business and the stadium was half empty for the last few home games. Even if the tickets were sold, it was clear that this team had reached the bottom with Reid. It was time.

When fans look back at the Reid era, I hope they remember it as one of the best eras in Eagles history. Reid took this team from the cellar and had them to within three points of a Super Bowl Championship. I will look back on a coach that was loved by his players and had a trusting relationship with them. I will also remember, however, a coach that was stubborn at the end and refused to change his style of coaching even when it was painfully obvious something had to be done.

Zoneblitz: What do you think of the hiring of Chip Kelly and, perhaps more importantly, can he and his system translate to the NFL?

Shorr-Parks: The hiring of Chip Kelly was a decision Lurie made with the entire franchise in mind, not just the football team. The Eagles organization had grown stale and needed a complete redesign. Kelly, who built Oregon to what it is, was the guy to do that. The off the field qualities of Kelly almost make it as good of a hire as the on the field ones do. The fact that Kelly is viewed as such a great offensive mind only makes it a better move.

The biggest misconception with Chip Kelly is that he has a “system” to bring from Oregon. Kelly has made it clear that he coaches by personnel. The only sure thing is that his offensive with the Eagles will not be what it is with Oregon. Kelly will run the ball and take advantage of McCoy and Brown. The one downside to the Kelly hire, however, is that it does nothing to fix a defense that was the Achilles heel of this team last year. That is the one reason Gus Bradley might have been the better hire. The offense has enough talent to function on its own in many ways. It did not need a great offensive mind, it just needed a new one. The defense, on the other hand, needs a great defensive mind to fix. Bradley is that mind. Kelly and new defensive coordinator Billy Davis are not.

Zoneblitz: What went wrong in 2011 and 2012 and what are your thoughts on the current makeup of the roster – are there hints of a good team still on the roster or is this a complete rebuild?

Shorr-Parks: As cliché as it sounds, any team can compete any year in the NFL. The Eagles are not the Cleveland Browns. They have big-time talent on the roster. They have weapons on offense and while not a ton, some playmakers on defense. The Eagles fell apart because the Andy Reid era went a year too long. I can’t blame Lurie for trying, but watching the team last year and being in the locker room, it was clear that once something went wrong they just accepted it. That was a hangover from last year. I’m not so sure the same attitude would have been there with a new coach. The franchise needs a rebuild, but not the roster. With a fresh attitude, new ideas from the coaches and a new head coach, this roster can win.

Zoneblitz: Are there one or two players who have disappointed the last couple years who you could see really coming around because of the staff changes that have taken place?

Shorr-Parks: One player who I think could really excel under Chip Kelly is Jeremy Maclin. Many people think DeSean Jackson will succeed, and I think he could, but Maclin is the player more built for Kelly’s offense. Maclin is close to just as dangerous as Jackson in space but can run more routes then DeSean can. Maclin said himself that he felt his full array of talents were not being used with Reid as the head coach. Maclin also has every incentive to have a big year as time is running up on his first contract. Other players who I feel could benefit from Kelly being here are Michael Vick, Dion Lewis, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (because of his familiarity with Billy Davis).

Zoneblitz: Nnamdi Asomugha has largely been a disappointment since arriving in town with a big money deal. What’s his future with the team?

Shorr-Parks: What to do with Asomugha is a complicated question. Even the biggest Nnamdi defenders admit that he is not worth the money he will make next year (close to $11 million). With the Eagles so far under the cap however, that might not matter as much as people think. The Eagles cannot afford to replace both cornerbacks and the decision on whether to keep Nnamdi or not will have more to do with what Billy Davis sees on tape than it will money.

When he looks at the tape he will see a player who was beaten often and, at times, badly, but not as much as people think. I have been Nnamdi’s biggest critic, and even I can admit that he was not beaten as much as perception leads people to believe. Some people can see Nnamdi moving to safety but I’m not so sure he has the speed to play the position. It’s also pretty obvious that his ball skills are not his strength. If Davis thinks he can fix Nnamdi he will be given the chance, regardless of money. The fact that Nnamdi does so much off the field in terms of charities will help his case, though in recent days reports have surfaced that he’ll have to take a pay cut to stick around.

Zoneblitz: There’s a lot of skill position talent on the roster in LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown, Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson and others. What are their roles going forward and who fits well into the new plan?

Shorr-Parks: Chip Kelly said it best himself when he said that the Eagles have speed and youth and you can’t teach either. While the Eagles offense will not look like Oregon’s did, Kelly is going to utilize these weapons better than Reid did. I believe the Eagles offense will be built from the running game, with both McCoy and Brown getting a significant amount of carries. I would not be surprised to see the Eagles lead the league in rushing attempts next season. If Kelly can get the running game set up it will then allow him to get Maclin and Jackson into space. If he can succeed in doing that, this offense will put up big, big numbers.

Zoneblitz: What will the Eagles do in Free Agency and the Draft?

Shorr-Parks: This is going to be a wild offseason for the Eagles as it will be out with the old and in with the new. You can count with two hands the amount of players who are guaranteed to be on the roster next year. Other than that, Kelly will bring in his kind of players while Howie Roseman weeds out the ones he felt were responsible for the sometimes toxic environment around the team next year.

The addition of Tom Gamble is a major one by the Eagles and his influence will be all over both the players they bring in through free agency and the draft. In the draft I expect the Eagles to address either the offensive or defensive line with the first pick. The fact that Eagles will likely be running a 3-4, and don’t have the personnel to do so, only increases the chances they will go d-line with their first pick. It is also possible, however, that they would trade down given how many new players they are going to need.

Follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at: @eliotshorrparks
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