NFL Combine 2013: Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly

On Oregon DE Dion Jordan

"Dion's just a special guy in my heart. I had an opportunity to be with him for five years. He came into Oregon as a receiver, moved to tight end, we switched him over to defense the beginning of his sophomore year. He just had a huge impact, not only on the field but off the field. I'm excited to see him."

Has he been able to get a read on Eagles' talent level, need for rebuilding:

"I've watched every game, I've watched every cutup of our current players, but until you see 'em in person, at our first minicamp, you don't really know. The film will tell you a lot, but it doesn't tell you everything. Part of making decisions is about meeting them as players and kind of finding out what their work ethic is like, what they're like on the practice field, what they're like in the weight room."

Why he wasn't interested in Cleveland:

"I just thought for me, the Eagles was the best opportunity. I was just really excited when I met Howie (Roseman), Jeff Lurie and Don (Smolenski) and the whole group of people there. It was the right fit for me ... It wasn't an elimination of anything, I just felt Philly was the best fit."

4 QBs now, is that the group or is more change coming:

"I'm not a predictor of how it's going to work, and I've never had an opportunity to work with 'em. The last time I was with Dennis (Dixon) was in 2007. I've never had a chance to work with Michael (Vick) or Nick (Foles). Saw Nick play in college. Never saw Trent Edewards in person. I've spoken with all those guys on the phone, and that's just been an introductory, 'hey, how you doin'? Here's our schedule, look forward to meetin' you. I can't tell you what the future's going to be, and who it's going to be. A lot of that will come when we have a chance to spend time with them out on the practice field."

Won't he have to make decisions before seeing a lot of these guys on the field

"A lot of that is on our personnel department, because they know 'em a lot better than I do at this point in time. I'll give 'em my opinion on where we are ... Those are the rules we're goverened by."

Is Foles a QB you can see effectively running your offense:

"Yep."

Unintelligible exchange over what Kelly has said about having different-style QBs, running his offense.

"I didn't say that. I said that Nick Foles has a skill set, that it's our job, if he's our quarterback, to put him in a position to make plays … Obviously, one player throws certain routes better than another player, one person does a better job in certain check-with-mes at the line of scrimmage, that's what I think every coach does. I don't think anybody runs the same exact playcall sheet (with different QBs)."

Approached by teams wanting to trade for Nick Foles?

"I haven't, no." (Teams would approach Roseman, the general manager.) "Have the Eagles? I have no idea. I want to coach Nick. I want to get a chance to spend time with him. I've said before, I'm a big fan of his, the way he plays the game, his toughness, his ability to throw the ball, very accurate. I want a chance to hopefully get him out on the practice field."

(unintelligible)

"I think with everybody, you're looking to improve your roster, no matter how you do it."

Report that Eagles wouldn't trade Foles unless they got first or second-round pick?

"I don't know about picks, I never heard any of that, but I think anybody that's up here as a head coach, if you would ask 'em, would you entertain any position on your team, you're always going to listen, but that doesn't mean anything."

Why sign Dennis Dixon?

"We just wanted to get another quarterback on the roster … I know Dennis's skillset, I know him firsthand, he's got a chance to come in and compete?"

For starting job?

"I can't predict the future. I have no idea. But with the amount of reps we get in practice, everybody's going to get a shot at throwing the football around. The best players are going to play."

Bill Belichick's influence

"I know coach Belichick, I'm from New England, I spent a lot of time going down just as a coach when they opened up practice for college coaches to come down and visit … I didn't talk to (Belichick) about coming to the NFL, I didn't talk to coach about what to expect in my first season. He's one of the iconic coaches in this profession. Obviously, his record speaks for itself. When you're around people like that, you do a lot more listening than you do talking."

Fitting with OC Pat Shurmur:

"We seemed to hit it off right away. Extremely intelligent. Very well thought-out, very detail-oriented … It was just a good fit. There were just a lot of really well-qualified candidates, but it just seemed like we clicked right away. To have a guy in the office right next to you to be able to kind of run things by, 'did this ever come up when you were sitting in that chair?' He's been fantastic. We've been together about three weeks now, really just kind of putting things together, his thoughts, my thoughts, and all of our guys on the offensive side of the ball. When we meet, we've had really productive meetings, just trying to get some thoughts on paper and put together a playbook."

Evaluation of DeMeco Ryans

"Physical player, obviously, the leader of the defense in terms of getting guys lined up. He really plays the game the way you want it to be played. From listening to the people in the building, there's a quality about him that you want to be around him. Again, he's another guy I spoke with briefly on the phone. He's still not in the Philly area. When he gets in, I can't wait to sit down and talk to him and get to know him a lot better."

Nnamdi Asomugha look like a $15 million corner last season?

"I'm not a money guy, so I don't look at guys - when I watch film, I'm just trying to look at what they can do, what schemes they're in, trying to understand that. When they called something, what was the guy trying to do? Can he transition, can he get in and out of breaks, can he make plays on the ball, tackle. When I look at guys, I don't say, 'is he worth this much or that much.' "

"I may go back and watch one-on-ones of preseason and camp, just to get an idea of what players can do and can't do, but I don't have his group of plays, or how he played in Game 1 through the last game of the season."

"I think Nnamdi has a skillset, that can play football."

Did watching film give him good sense of what he has to work with?

"No. The good thing is, we're in February. We've still got a lot of time … we want to be as thorough as possible in every decision we make. We don't feel, getting in as coach on the 16th of January, that we were under the gun by any stretch of the imagination … let's let this play itself out."

Reports that you were close to coaching Cleveland?

"Erroneous. That was a quote from 'Wedding Crashers.' "

What does he think of Alabama G Chance Warmack?

"I've seen a few clip of them on offense, not only Chance but Barrett (Jones) and DJ (Fluker), and talked with Jeff (Stoutland) about that, but there's a process that's involved. I've seen him, I know he's a really good player.'

Transitioning playbook from college to NFL

"Good question. It's what do we feel, on this level, that we can run? What's going to fit. When you start to put a playbook together, there's always more (rather) than less. Then you start to cull it down, as you get a chance to know your players and understand what they can do and what you're asking them to do. It's pretty wide-ranging right now. It's got a lot of things in it. But then I think any good coach will always tailor his playbook to his personnel. Until we get a chance to work with them, I can't really tell you what it's going to look like when we get rolling in August and start playing games in September, but right now, it's going to be pretty extensive."

Then he said the offense is more than what he did at Oregon.

"It's what Billy Lazor had at Virginia, it's what Bob Bicknell had at Buffalo, it's what Jeff Stoutland had at Alabama, it's what Duce (Staley) and Ted (Williams) had when they were there earlier. It's about all of us getting together. It's a real collaborative effort. As a coach, it's a real fun time. You talk about a certain play, 'How'd you coach it? How'd you teach it?' Coaching terminology - 'How did you express this? Have you ever tried to do it this way?' It's really just a sharing of ideas. Then we come together and decide how we're going to do it as a group with the 2013 team."

Good for him and assts to know a lot about draft prospects, from college coaching?

"I think we're (each) familiar with the players from our school. When it comes to other players at other schools, I don't think that's an advantage. I've seen obviously the players from other schools in the Pac 12. I can tell you how they played in games, I've seen them more on film than some other guys."

Challenge in evaluating his former Oregon players fairly?

"I would think it would be an advantage, because we know 'em. I can tell you what they're like on the field, I can tell you what they're like off the field, I can tell you whazt they're like in the meeting room."

Question about something Mike Vick said, RE Kelly's offense being similar to what he ran in Atlanta in 2006.

"I've watched a lot of tape, but I haven't gotten to 2006."

Can you build for the future and win right away.

"I want to win. Yes. I don't know, I'm not a prediction guy, I'm not going to tell you we're this, this, this and this. I can tell you it's the end of February and I'm getting ready to see a lot of prospects in the next couple days, and that's where we are."

His OL template.

"There's a certain toughness you have to have to play the offensive line, and there's got to be some athleticism. You've got to be able to move and you've got to be able to play in space against some really, really good defensive linemen in this league. There are guys right now on the current roster I'm really excited to get a chance to work with."