[calia]

This exchange re: Chip Kelly reminds me a little about Tom Coughlin. He's always been strong on Xs and Os. Early on in his head coaching career, he was viewed as a rather cold hardass by his players. He had success, but when things started to slide (which is inevitable in the salary-cap era), players didn't have his back. Over the years coaching the Giants, however, I think he's changed his approach; you get the impression that he's got closer individual relationships with his players, and I don't think it is a coincidence that his greatest success has come in NY.

Kelly may learn that over time as well. It's funny -- one of my favorite quotes about Vince Lombardi by one of his players, was something like: "Oh, Coach Lombardi is great. He treats us all teh same. He treats us like dogs." But I think his players really loved him, and in part because he was a winner (he was THE winner), but also because he was such a great father figure (albeit a tough love father figure, and not in the Adrian Peterson kind of way).