Pat Shurmur expected to join Chip Kelly's Eagles as OC, per report

Pat Shurmur will join Chip Kelly's staff with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Shurmur was just fired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, where he went 9-23 in two seasons. It was no secret that he was trying to land an offensive coordinator job after washing out as a head coach, as he interviewed with the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets. But it was Kelly, who took the job after leaving the University of Oregon last week, who took on Shurmur.

Shurmur returns to Philadelphia after working as an assistant coach under Andy Reid for nearly a decade, serving as the Eagles' tight ends coach from 1999 to 2001 and then as quarterbacks coach from 2002 to 2008.

One has to imagine Kelly will be in charge of much of the scheming offensively, as he was responsible for an innovative offense that was constantly near the top of the NCAA in scoring, but Shurmur will likely call plays. It's a tough role, as Philadelphia scored only 17.5 points per game last year — fourth-worst in the league. The Browns weren't much better, averaging just 18.9 points per game.

To be fair to the Eagles, they spent the majority of their season without Michael Vick and starting running back LeSean McCoy, as both were injured. Vick was then benched in favor of rookie Nick Foles as the team's season got out of hand. How Kelly and Shurmur choose to utilize Vick, once among the league's most dynamic quarterbacks, will play a big part in their success next season.