New 49ers coach Chip Kelly: I had a great experience in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Chip Kelly had nothing but good things to say about his time in Philadelphia as he was introduced as the new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
"I had a great experience when I was in Philadelphia. Again, I want to thank Jeffrey Lurie for giving me the opportunity to coach there. I left an organization that had great people and meant a real lot to me and were very supportive of me. I loved the players that I coached there," Kelly said during the Wednesday press conference.
Kelly was then asked about reports claiming he was interested in trading Sam Bradford for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick while he with the Eagles.
"I don't know where that report came from, but we were very happy with Sam in Philly. In terms of [Kaepernick], I just know playing against him, he was very difficult for us to play against two years ago out on this field," Kelly said.
Kelly pointed out the Eagles did not play the 49ers this season and he hasn't done a lot of tape study on Kaepernick.
The questions then focused on Kelly's reported strained relationship with Eagles players. Kelly's remarks alluded to that not being the case.
"One of the things that struck me when I left Philadelphia was the text messages and calls I had from the players that I had there, really meant a lot to me. I'm not one that looks at what's reported and what's not reported, I'm a pretty black and white guy, and when I talk about the relationships that I had with the players there and the many of them that reached out to me when this went down, I feel very, very comfortable in terms of my relationship with my players there," Kelly said.
Former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, since joining the Buffalo Bills, has directed several critical comments at Kelly.
Asked Tuesday by the NFL Network what went wrong between him and Kelly, McCoy said, "I guess he thought that it would be better if DeMarco [Murray] was there, and that's how the trade went. I can't really answer that question, how [Kelly] felt. But at the end of the day, we all know the results. He got rid of me and got [Murray]. He felt like that was best for that offense, so that's how that went, just to be honest."
McCoy provided some advice for 49ers players.
"Chip is ... he wants to win. He's very, very intelligent," McCoy said. "The offense, they'll find ways to get big numbers. They'll find ways to put stats up offensively. You just got to, I think, with him coming in there, no matter how good of a player or lower of a player you are, if you just automatically believe him -- no matter if it sounds crazy and you're like, 'What is he talking about?' - if you just automatically believe and buy in, I think you'll be fine."
The 52-year-old Kelly was fired in his third season as coach of the Eagles with one week to go in the regular season.
On Tuesday, the Birds introduced Doug Pederson has their new head coach.
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ESPN contributed to this report.
