Chip Kelly Responds to LeSean McCoy's Comments on Race

During a press conference Thursday, Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly responded to Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy's claim earlier this month that Kelly is apt to get rid of his star black players.

Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer has Kelly's remarks: 

During an interview with ESPN The Magazine (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com), the former Eagles ball-carrier said the following about Kelly:

"

The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him as a coach. I think that's the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That's the truth. There's a reason. ... It's hard to explain with him. But there's a reason he got rid of all the black players -- the good ones -- like that.

"

It wasn't the first time such sentiments were publicly expressed. Earlier this offseason, former Eagles offensive lineman Tra Thomas, who was also an assistant under Kelly for two years, noted, "One of the things that you're seeing right now, and these are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that ... they feel like there is a hint of racism," per WTXF-TV Fox 29 (via Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com).

Kelly has given the impression of being a "my way or the highway" head coach, in the vein of Bill Belichick, and any decisions he's made to this point seem to be about scheme fit above all else. 

Nonetheless, the fact that Kelly had to address such comments at all suggests that he recognizes the need to nip this talk in the bud.