Chip Kelly, Billy Davis say they're a good fit for each other

WE DIDN'T GET all that much closer to solving the great Billy Davis mystery Monday.

Chip Kelly talked about how much he liked his new defensive coordinator when they first interviewed, nearly 2 weeks before Davis' hiring last week, but Kelly said he still wanted to talk with some other people - Kelly apparently unconcerned that this guy he says he wanted to hire had other irons in the fire. Kelly eventually acknowledged that the Eagles sought permission to talk with an assistant from one of the Super Bowl teams, and were denied. Kelly said that assistant was neither of the men linked to the Eagles in speculation - 49ers secondary coach Ed Donatell and Ravens linebackers coach Ted Monachino.

Kelly made it sound as if he and Davis are soul mates who can't believe they were lucky enough to find each other in this wacky football world. We might never know whether Davis was really the preferred candidate from the day he interviewed, or whether he was the fallback.

"Billy came in and did an unbelievable job. Really, sometimes when you interview people, sometimes it's like you're pulling teeth. There is not a great rapport. But there was a great rapport. We kept going over different situations, different scenarios and just talking football," Kelly said. "It felt like what I want our meeting rooms to feel like, because it wasn't an interview. It was just a bunch of guys talking football, and some really intelligent questions, and really intelligent answers.

"I felt like after interviewing him, he was the guy I wanted to work with. And I also knew instead of jumping at the first thing, to make sure we had an opportunity to look around. I explained that to Billy . . . When I did talk with other people, it just reaffirmed that Billy was the guy.

Davis has 21 years of NFL experience, something Kelly obviously lacks - Kelly said Monday he made sure all three coordinators came from the NFL and not from college, and he really wanted an ex-NFL head coach on his staff, which he got with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. But Davis' defenses have not been exceptional during his stints as coordinator at San Francisco and Arizona, 2 years at each place.

Kelly said being a coordinator is sometimes like being a quarterback in that you get blamed for things beyond your control.

"I know when I talk with him, in terms of him being a teacher and understanding the game of football, he's outstanding," Kelly said.

"In my past, I have good stats and bad stats, like most people. There's a lot of reasons for all of them. I have no excuses for any of 'em," Davis said.

Defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro also carries the title of assistant head coach. He came with Kelly from Oregon and seems to be the staff member closest to the head coach.

"I wasn't the homecoming king of my high school, but my wife married me," Azzinaro said when asked about Davis' defensive rankings. "When you look at film the way we look at it, we're looking for how do guys play? Balanced stances? How do they tackle? . . . Billy's defenses have always played with good leverage, his guys really tackle, they play with really good enthusiasm."

Neither Kelly nor Davis would commit to a specific defensive front, though the Eagles hired an outside linebackers coach (Bill McGovern) and an inside linebackers coach (Rick Minter), which indicates a 3-4 base.

"We don't know where we'll end up being right now," Davis said. "It's about players . . . We are building the Philadelphia Eagle defense. We are building it very teachable, very learnable, so our guys play fast, aggressive, and are tough. Tackling is something we'll work on every day.

"The simplicity of the scheme will let them play fast and physical. I think that's really what all the good defenses do."

Davis went on to say that if he ultimately decides his personnel is a good fit for the 3-4, "then it will be. If it's not, then it won't be."

Chip Kelly said he has had no recent contact with quarterback Dennis Dixon, a Ravens practice-squad player who starred for Kelly at Oregon . . . Kelly called Jeff Stoutland "a creative, cutting-edge offensive line coach with old-school toughness" . . . Kelly confirmed he spoke with running back LeSean McCoy about the perils of social media, after McCoy's nasty Twitter spat with the mother of his son . . . Bill Davis coached Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie at Arizona but said the decision whether to bring back DRC, a pending free agent, is not his. Davis wouldn't say whether he wanted him back.