Walter Thurmond On Chip Kelly: 'Great Leader, Wants To Win Championship'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Chip Kelly has dealt with a lot of criticism this offseason---his first with complete control of the Eagles' roster---fair or unfair. From racist to awful general manager, Kelly has gotten all kinds of thoughtless shade thrown his way.
Among the numerous transactions Kelly made this Spring, was the acquisition of veteran defensive back Walter Thurmond, who played under Kelly at Oregon and is now thriving in Philadelphia after switching from corner to safety.
Thurmond, who was a member of the Seattle Seahawks' 2014 Super Bowl Championship team, is impressed by the winning culture Kelly has created in Philadelphia.
"Coach Kelly is a great leader and he has the mindset, and he wants to win a championship," Thurmond told the 94WIP Morning Show on Tuesday. "It's evident as far as the acquisitions he's made in the offseason, the guys that he's brought in that really buy into the program, that want to play unselfish football and guys that take pride in their technique and want to be great. I think that's one of the biggest things, getting those group of guys together to want to win a championship. I think he's done a great job so far."
Listen: Walter Thurmond on the 94WIP Morning Show
Through three preseason games, the Eagles have outscored their opponents 115-53 and 52-3 in the first quarters. The first-year Eagles, while it's just the preseason of course, are flourishing in Kelly's system early on. Thurmond had himself a pick-six in Saturday night's 39-26 win over the Packers.
Suddenly, the nay sayers are coming around on this revamped Eagles team. In fact, Vegas has lowered the Eagles' Super Bowl 50 odds from 20/1 to 10/1, fourth shortest in the NFL.
"I think people had a lot of doubts just because of all the transactions that Coach Kelly had during the offseason with trading LeSean McCoy and getting rid of Nick Foles," Thurmond explained. "Everyone was pretty pessimistic with those moves, but he brought in some great people some great running backs and stuff like that to be able to fill those voids. And I think it's just one of those things where, as a team, we can't really get distracted by the outside chatter. We realize what's going on internally within the organization and how guys feel as far as other teammates and our character as a team. And our willingness to want to be great and want to win games, stuff like that."
