Chip Kelly 'burned the boats.'

There's a lot of talk about the low success rate of college head coaches transitioning to the NFL.

The reality is the rate is low for all coaches regardless of NFL experience. Statistics are for losers.

Chip Kelly, who left Oregon to be head coach of the Eagles, sounds anything like Steve Spurrier, the ultra-successful college coach who crashed and burned trying to right the Washington Redskins. Spurrier didn't seem to want to join the NFL fraternity, which is fine.

"I’m all in," Kelly said at his introductory news conference. "I think it was Cortes who burned the boats. I’ve burned the boats so 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 I wouldn’t have made the jump. I made the jump and I’m here and I’m excited to be here.”

The boat reference was to Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes, who in 1519 began his conquest of the Aztec empire in Mexico. Cortes burned the ships his team landed in to send the all-in message to the 600 or so men he brought per legend documented in this piece. 

It was win or die trying.

Now, that's urgency.

And it sure sounds like Kelly wants his players buying in on that level as well. 

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