Chip Kelly makes them proud back home in New Hampshire

A billboard on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden welcomes new Eagles coach Chip Kelly.
A billboard on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden welcomes new Eagles coach Chip Kelly. (APRIL SAUL / Staff Photographer)
A billboard on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden welcomes new Eagles coach Chip Kelly.GALLERY: A billboard on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden welcomes… (APRIL SAUL…)
By Zach Berman, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: January 18, 2013

Sean McDonnell texted Chip Kelly a congratulatory message on Wednesday.

"How's your day going?" Kelly responded to McDonnell, the New Hampshire coach and Kelly's best friend.

They texted back and forth about chicken cheesesteaks they ate when they met with the Penn coaches one time, back when Kelly was an assistant to McDonnell at New Hampshire.

There are "thousands" of other stories McDonnell can share about times when the friends are relaxing, away from the field where they are just two alums from New Hampshire enjoying each other's company.

"We're very proud of the fact that one of our guys, a guy who went to high school here, who went to college here, a guy whose first success was at the University of New Hampshire, has gone on and can now do it at the top level," McDonnell said during a telephone interview Wednesday. "Everybody who knows him - he hasn't forgot who we are - and has been part of him every step of the way is proud of him and is rooting for him."

Descriptions of the 49-year-old Kelly's nonfootball life during his time at Oregon often centered on returning to New Hampshire. He has a group of six to eight friends called the "East Coast Ducks" whom he flew out to games and spends time with during the summer.

"You watch him come back to a place like New Hampshire, and he treats everyone the same," McDonnell said. "The people who were good to him when he was an assistant coach here, a high school coach in Manchester, an athlete in Manchester, he still shows them great respect."

McDonnell's son Tim now lives in Philadelphia in his first year out of college and has known Kelly almost his entire life. Kelly used to babysit Tim, making up jokes about why he's called "Chip" and taking Tim to the hardware store to find candy when the candy store closed.

Kelly flew Tim out to the Rose Bowl last year, had him stay at the team hotel, and took him to meet ESPN's College GameDay announcers.

"I was really impressed how he went to Oregon and didn't change," Tim McDonnell said, then added: "All the guys back home are kind of goofballs. The 'East Coast Ducks,' we call them. I guess we'll have to call them the 'East Coast Eagles' now."

The loyalty works both ways. Because when Kelly returns to New Hampshire, he won't be the head coach of Oregon or even of the Eagles. He'll just be another New Hampshire guy in a group of them.

"The guys that he has left an impression on are going to support him," McDonnell said. "The guys who are Patriots fans, or some of the guys who are Giants fans, are going to cheer a little bit harder for the Eagles now because Charlie's there."

Contact Zach Berman at zberman@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @ZBerm.

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