Chip Kelly Ranked No. 3 Most Influential Person Of The 2015 NFL Season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- He will cut you if you sneeze during practice. He will trade you, if you wear the wrong color shoes. During games, the referees argue with him.
Chip Kelly is, the (third) most interesting man in the world influential person in the NFL.
This is according to an annual list done by SI.com, where they rank the top-100 most influential people of the upcoming NFL season. Last season, Kelly was ranked fifth behind Roger Goodell, Dean Blandino, Robert Kraft, and Judge Anita Brody.
Now, with complete control of all Philadelphia Eagles personnel decisions (made evident by his controversial offseason transactions), Kelly comes in ahead of Kraft (No. 14) and Bill Belichick (No. 4) of the New England Patriots. The top-two most influential NFL people of 2015, likely Commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, will be released later this week.
SI.com writer Emily Kaplan compared Kelly to two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Jimmy Johnson, who was interviewed in the article.
"Chip and I have talked a couple of times, and he's a very private guy; so much of what we discuss should not be shared," Johnson said via the SI.com piece. "But I did give him one piece of advice this year. He wanted to know what it's like to be the decision maker as well as the coach. I told him this: You have an advantage in the draft because you know these players. You've been in a lot of their homes, you've watched them play closely. So the draft is when guys like you and I have the advantage."
Johnson admitted his only concern with Kelly is his decision to obtain players with major injury risk, like quarterback Sam Bradford and linebacker Kiko Alonso. Nevertheless, Johnson explains Kelly's willingness to take risks is rare, and it will allow him to succeed.
"Here's the big question: Do you want to play it safe and be good or do you want to take a chance and be great?" Johnson asks. "If you're not afraid to fail, you can do some great things in this league. But most people are afraid to fail, so they play it safe. I always liked to take risks because I was always confident in my abilities. I think—no, I know—Chip is confident in his abilities, too."
You can read the full, interesting piece, here.
