Chip Kelly got endorsement on Eagles from Andy Reid

Chip Kelly has committed to the Philadelphia Eagles. That's the story the former Oregon coach gave Thursday during his first press conference as head coach.

Well, that one and another one of historical significance to make his point.

"I'm all in. I think it was Cortes who burned the boats; I've burned the boats," Kelly said in reference to the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. "I'm not going back. I'm in. I'm an NFL coach and this is where I want to be. If there was any indecision in terms of I didn't want to be in, then I wouldn't have made the jump. I've made the jump, I'm here and I'm excited to be here."

Kelly had to make that clear because there was some indecision on his part.

After a nine-hour interview with the Eagles after his Ducks beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, Kelly told the Eagles he was returning to Oregon. But shortly thereafter, he began to have second thoughts. A mutual friend informed the Eagles that Kelly was reconsidering their offer. Kelly eventually made it clear he was "all in" to accept the Eagles' offer on Tuesday. The stunning news broke on Wednesday when Kelly accepted the job.

Lurie told reporters Kelly has signed a five-year deal.

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"The hardest thing for me to leave Oregon was because the people. For me to leave, there had to be (good) people here," Kelly said. "In the time I met with Jeffrey, (general manager) Howie (Roseman) and (team president) Don (Smolenski), it was very evident to me of their passion, very evident to me of their commitment. That was a no-brainer. I knew it was a great fit from the Saturday we had the meeting. It was just, 'Can I leave what I have?'"

Eventually, he did. And Kelly said he cried more than the Oregon players did when he informed them of the news Wednesday morning.

"Sometimes you have to leave the nest to better yourself or leave one nest as a duck and go to another nest as an Eagle," Kelly said.

He added, "My decision was based on nothing to do with any trepidation about this organization. I wanted to be here. It was just my players – I'm going to get emotional again – but I love those guys and I love our staff. And the people in Oregon gave me an opportunity when I was at New Hampshire and that meant a lot to me. It had to be something special for me to leave."

Other notes and quotes out of Kelly's press conference:

— He spoke with Andy Reid during the process. Reid, fired by the Eagles late last month after 14 seasons in Philly, spoke highly of the organization and the city. Kelly also spoke to former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil, who resides in the area.

"The fact Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here told me what this organization is about," Kelly said of Reid, now the Kansas City Chiefs head coach. "There's not a classier guy. When Andy texted me (Wednesday) when I accepted the job, I told him I had really, really, really big shoes to fill. In typical Andy fashion, he said, 'Just be yourself and you'll be fine.'"

— Lurie said Kelly told the Eagles at the end of their first meeting he'd either accept their offer or head back to Oregon. That means the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills, who also interviewed Kelly, were never really serious contenders.

— Kelly said his up-tempo offense can be successful in the NFL and suggested there will be tweaks.

"There's perception and there's reality. The perception is we run our quarterback all the time and this is what we do; the reality is that's not the case," Kelly said. "One of the best qualities in a quarterback is durability and a lot of that has to do with play-calling. Our quarterback is not going to get the direct snap like Dick Kazmaier did at Princeton in the single wing and have him run it 25 times, I can tell you that.

"Part of what we do offensively has always been understanding what personnel is, how we maximize that and what are their best traits? If you're going to ask somebody something they're not capable of doing, obviously that's a recipe for disaster. We're going to analyze everybody in our program. Our scheme offensively, defensive and special-teams wise is always going to be personnel-driven."

— That's good news for Nick Foles. As was Kelly's response to a question about the rookie quarterback who replaced Michael Vick this past season.

"I'm a huge fan of his," said Kelly, whose teams faced Foles in college. "He's tough. It's an attribute that I think a lot of people don't understand how hard it is and what toughness means to the quarterback spot, just to be able to stand in the pocket and throw the football.

"We hit him as many times as we could hit him and he just kept getting up and making plays. He completed a 13-yard pass left-handed against us once. I remember just standing on the sideline shaking my head, going, 'I don't know what we have to do to stop him.' He's a competitor. He's accurate. So I'm excited about that."

— Neither Kelly nor Roseman would speculate on the future of Vick, who is likely to be released.