SI's Greg Bedard: Belichick, Saban 'Easier' To Cover Than Chip
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Chip Kelly is arguably the most intriguing sports figure in the country, and definitely the most fascinating in Philadelphia. However, gathering information on the Eagles head coach is one of the toughest tasks for the sports media.
Sports Illustrated's Greg Bedard took a shot in his feature on Kelly titled, 'A Beautiful Mind,' which was published this week.
Bedard says Kelly is even more private that famously guarded and accomplished football coaches like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots and Nick Saban of the University of Alabama.
"I've covered both Belichick and Nick Saban and I've had much easier times doing stories like this on them than Chip Kelly," Bedard told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday of Belichick. "You can do stuff on Belichick and Saban and you know, they're not the most forthcoming person when talking about themselves or when you interview them one on one, but they don't really put restrictions---they don't put restrictions at all on other people.
Listen: Greg Bedard on the 94WIP Morning Show
"Chip Kelly is entirely different," said Bedard. "I don't know if he orders them not to talk or what, but nobody is talking."
So who did Bedard get shut out by?
"It's everybody that's close to him," Bedard said. "Like, I probably reached out to a half of dozen or so people that he's been close with for years---either he grew up with them in New Hampshire or maybe people from Oregon. And everybody's like---they didn't answer or were like, 'I can't talk.'
"Including his father who I've chatted with from time to time since my [Boston] Globe days. He just said, 'I can't talk about any of my sons publicly.'"
In his Sports Illustrated feature, Bedard compares Kelly to the three-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Walsh. One excerpt explains that Walsh spent 14 of his 22 picks in his second and third drafts, on defensive players. Kelly spent of his 10 of his 13 selections, in his second and third drafts, on defense.
"The two biggest things between Chip and Bill Walsh is they both ran, sort of finesse new wave offenses that people really scoffed at," Bedard said. "Even after they [Walsh's 49ers] won the first Super Bowl, they [critics] still thought the offense was junk.
"I think both guys believe that their offenses can scheme around talent deficiencies on offense. They can deal with less talent on offense, because they have confidence in their offensive schemes."
The number one controversial move made by Kelly this past off-season was trading Nick Foles for the injury-prone Sam Bradford. Bedard says Foles' lack of mobility at the quarterback position triggered the move.
"That's sort of the outlier to me because of the injury history," Bedard said of Bradford. "It's a huge risk there's no doubt and people should be nervous.
"Look, Nick Foles was good there, but Chip needs a quarterback that can move to really make his offense work. And to make the defense have to defend that extra gap with the read option and things like that, but Foles is just too slow of foot to do it."