Chip Kelly Reportedly Alienated Eagles Scouts, Changed 2014 Draft Board

Before Chip Kelly was given final say over personnel as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, he was reportedly already meddling around in the scouting department.

Matt Lombardo of NJ Advance Media, citing a former member of the Philadelphia front office, reported Wednesday that Kelly alienated scouts and had primary control over the three drafts during his Eagles tenure.

Kelly, now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, was fired by the Eagles before Week 17 of the 2015 campaign.

The anonymous former front office member explained the dynamic between Kelly and the Eagles personnel men in greater detail, citing the 2014 draft as a prime example:

"

Right before that draft, the scouts set the board. Then Chip got a hold of it and totally turned it around. Scouts had no say at all in that draft. Anybody that Chip didn't want, that player's card got removed from the board and thrown in the trash. Those guys were never even in the discussion.

Almost immediately, you had a lot of scouts looking around and wondering, 'Why am I even working? Why the hell are we even here?' We put all of this work in, put the information in and Chip changed everything and took whoever he wanted to take.

"

As Lombardo pointed out, Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman took responsibility for drafting apparent first-round bust Marcus Smith in 2014.

It appears as though Kelly was actually to blame for the poor pick.

The 2013 draft saw Kelly and vice president of player personnel Tom Gamble take control of the show, according to Lombardo. His source described what happened during the fallout after the 2014 season:

"

The Eagles brought in some of Tom's guys to make some changes in the scouting department, and Howie's guys were kind of pushed aside a little bit. Howie really wasn't listened to. Chip would listen to Gamble, but he wouldn't listen to Howie. It just wasn't a good relationship.

Everything hit the fan after that (2014) season. Chip left town almost immediately. Howie fired [Gamble] and then Chip gets hold of it, comes right back to the building and put his foot down [to owner Jeffrey Lurie].

"

Lombardo's source also said Kelly had a "rude awakening" when he naively believed his system could win despite the players involved.

Kelly had the audacity to let leading receiver Jeremy Maclin flee in free agency, and he also traded star running back LeSean McCoy. The players he brought in on the open market weren't terribly productive last season, either, which is part of what led to Kelly's firing.

The Eagles overpaid for cornerback Byron Maxwell and splurged on NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray. Landing the latter from the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys seemed like a good move, yet Murray had a woeful year and was traded to the Tennessee Titans this offseason.

Maxwell was shipped away to the Miami Dolphins following Kelly's departure—a clear message Philadelphia would reshape the roster he largely dismantled and damaged. Linebacker Kiko Alonso, who played for Kelly at Oregon and came to Philly in the McCoy trade, was also part of that Miami trade.

It's going to be quite the challenge for Kelly to establish credibility in San Francisco unless he did indeed learn from the errors of his ways in Philadelphia. Defenses caught up with his offensive schemes, and Kelly didn't have an answer.

With a 49ers roster that needs a lot of work and an incumbent quarterback depth chart featuring Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert, Kelly faces an uphill battle just to make San Francisco competitive in 2016.

If results aren't produced on the field and Kelly exudes similar antics behind the scenes, his Niners tenure could be short-lived. Should stories like the one that surfaced Wednesday repeat in San Francisco and lead to another firing, he may never get a chance to coach in the pros again.