National Football League

Eagles VP Ed Marynowitz says he's not Chip Kelly's 'yes man'

Published Apr. 24, 2015 1:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Jason Rowan

The belief in NFL circles is that Chip Kelly is in complete control of the Philadelphia Eagles and oversees the team's entire football operations. But Eagles vice president of football operations Ed Marynowitz begs to differ, and made it clear he’s simply not some stuffed suit with a title and no real power in the organization.

“I know that’s a comment that everybody throws out, is this guy just a ‘yes man?’ Do you agree?” Marynowitz said Thursday, per Around the NFL writer Conor Orr, via NFL.com. “I’m never one to agree just to agree. To support the head coach, I don’t believe that’s just to tell him he’s right in everything that he says. You’re not going to disagree just to disagree either. But I’ve never been afraid to voice my opinion.”

Marynowitz assumed his VP role in January at the age of 30 with limited front office experience. He joined the Eagles in 2012 as the team’s assistant director of pro scouting and was promoted in 2013 to the position assistant director of player personnel.

Given Kelly was firmly entrenched with the team at the time, he presumably played a big role in the decision-making process in finding the replacement for former general manager Howie Roseman, who was promoted to Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

It’s reasonable to assume that Marynowitz was more or less hand-picked at the head coach’s discretion, or at least promoted himself with a lot of input from Kelly.

Marynowitz insists that thus far, though, the power structure as it stands is working well and there haven’t been any real disagreements.

It makes sense that Marynowitz wanted to stress that the inmate isn’t running the asylum, as the saying goes, and that he plays a significant role in running the team. In the end, a team that doesn’t rely heavily on its coach is doomed in all facets is certain to face issues related to organizational dysfunction and hierarchical disconnect.

Still, despite Marynowitz’s comments, the fact remains that Chip Kelly, ever the tinkering mad scientist, is in charge of the Eagles to a certain extent as he operates his own Dr. Frankenstein-esque football laboratory.

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