Former Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy believe the tenure of coach Chip Kelly didn’t work because he was uncomfortable around Black players.
In a recent episode of Jackson and McCoy’s podcast The 25/10 Show, the two shared their experience playing under Kelly, the Eagles’ coach from 2013 to 2015. During this period, Kelly was also in control of personnel decisions and famously let Jackson walk in free agency after reports of him being affiliated with a gang. McCoy was traded to the Buffalo Bills in 2015.
Speaking about Kelly’s tenure, they agreed that Kelly’s interactions were Black players were questionable.
“I’ve never met a coach that was uncomfortable with dealing with Black players,” McCoy said, “because — let’s just not hide it — most of the players are Black. The NFL is dominated by Black players, and it’s a lot of white coaches.
“There would be times where I would be in the meeting room with Duce Staley, my running back coach, and he would say, ‘Yo,’ [and] he would be critiquing me about something I did. But I’m thinking, ‘These aren’t even your words,’ so I would say, ‘Where’d you get that at? Why are you telling me this?’ because me and him had a great relationship. [Staley said], ‘Well, Chip wants you to do this and that.””
After receiving that information, McCoy said he would confront Kelly about it in person. Kelly, however, wouldn’t say it exactly as he told the other coach to say it. McCoy also said the white players noticed it.
In another instance, McCoy claimed Kelly asked cornerback Roc Carmichael to cut his hair to make himself more “presentable.”
“We’re in the pros!” McCoy said. “This ain’t college… [Carmichael] came down and told me, ‘Yo man, can you believe Chip told me he wanted me to be more presentable, cut my hair?’ He’s uncomfortable with working with Black players. That’s a prime example.”
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