Angelo Cataldi: 'Chip Kelly Went From Toast Of The Town, To Just Toast'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- "Chip Kelly went from being toast of the town to just being toast."
That is what 25-year host on SportsRadio 94WIP Angelo Cataldi told CBS3 12 hours after the Philadelphia Eagles released Chip Kelly.
Kelly was the fifth Eagles' coach that Cataldi -- who returned from vacation to host Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show -- has talked about since joining WIP in 1988.
"That's right vacation ended early this year because the Philadelphia Eagles shocked the world," Cataldi said as he opened another historic show. "They shocked the world.
Listen: Angelo Cataldi on the 94WIP Morning Show
"And just like that an amazing, exciting, an enthralling era in Philadelphia football ended," he continued. "And as we sit here today, there's still a sense of shock, absolute shock at what happened."
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who had given Kelly complete personnel personnel just one year ago, fired Kelly on Tuesday night. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported that Kelly was pulled into a meeting with Lurie and did not fight the decision. Cataldi doesn't necessarily agree.
"He had a meeting with Jeffrey Lurie yesterday, that had to be -- oh, I would give anything to see that," Cataldi said. "That had to be ugly and contentious because it lead to his immediate dismissal.
"This is out of character for Jeff Lurie," Cataldi continued. "Jeff Lurie kept Andy Reid for 14 seasons. Andy Reid was 5-8 in his 13 seasons, won three utter-meaningless games at the end of that year, and won himself one more trip when he was 4-12 and they got rid of him. Apparently, he didn't want to make that mistake again. But he did it in three years. 10-6 and the playoffs, 10-6 no playoffs -- because you went from 9-3 to 10-6 and blew that. And now 6-9 and you're gone. That's what you call a short-leash."
Compared to the other five coaches he covered on WIP radio, Cataldi and Kelly had a pleasant relationship that even included recent lucky pie deliveries and donations to charity.
Ultimately, Cataldi says, Kelly's arrogance and inability to develop relationships with his employees ended his tenure in Philadelphia earlier than many expected.
"That's a guy -- and Rhea [Hughes], this is the one thing we all agree on because we're watching the situation closely," Cataldi said. "When you are Chip Kelly, you are brash. You don't have good people skills, you don't seem even within your own organization to be a guy that makes friends. You better to win. The minute you don't win, you're toast. And that's what he found out yesterday. That's an amazing turn of events."
