Eagles To Interview Kelly, Marrone

The Eagles will interview Oregon’s Chip Kelly and Syracuse’s Doug Marrone in Arizona, a source tells Tim McManus.

The team released a brief statement Saturday morning about their coaching search:

“The Eagles are committed to finding the right fit for head coach and are heading to Arizona now to kick off a week of interviews with a variety of candidates including Mike McCoy, Bruce Arians and Gus Bradley.”

Despite an NFL Network report last night that said Kelly and the Cleveland Browns were close to a deal, the Eagles will still have a shot.

So, what to make of all this? Clearly, the Eagles have interest in Kelly. While the Browns appear to be the frontrunners, nothing’s done until it’s done. We learned that with the Andy Reid/Cardinals/Chiefs situation. Agents and teams are doing work this time of year. If the Eagles are 100 percent sold that Kelly is the best candidate out there, now’s the time to put on the hard sell and take their best shot. They might still lose out, but at least they’ll have tried.

If they view Kelly as a good candidate, but aren’t ready to go all-in, they’ll almost certainly lose out to the Browns, who appear ready to make a deal.

As for Marrone, he was the Saints offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2008. He also was the Jets offensive line coach from 2002 to 2005. The Bills and Browns have also shown interest in him.

The Eagles will meet with McCoy in Denver on Sunday. The Arians and Bradley interviews will take place after the Colts and Seahawks play this weekend.

And when you’re watching games today and tomorrow, keep your eye on some other assistants, like Jay Gruden (Bengals offensive coordinator), Mike Zimmer (Bengals defensive coordinator), Darrell Bevell (Seahawks offensive coordinator), Ben McAdoo (Packers QBs coach), Tom Clements (Packers offensive coordinator) and Winston Moss (Packers assistant head coach).

For a list of every reported interview for every team, click here.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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