Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson shot straight from the hip when asked about the recently departed Chip Kelly and where he felt his now former head coach went wrong.
"Maybe the ego got in the way," Johnson said, according to Marcus Hayes of Philly.com. "Too much power. Control. Not being human about things; not working together, with the team, instead of being a dictator."
Johnson, who was the first draft pick Kelly made in his time with the Eagles, continued to reveal some of what he considered to be the flaws in Kelly's coaching philosophy.
"Practice here is pretty much the same, from (voluntary springtime) OTAs through training camp to the end of the season," Johnson said. "No other guys in the league go from April through the end of the season. It takes a toll on you. At the end of the year, I feel like I'm going to fall apart."
Johnson went on to also criticize Kelly's up-tempo offensive scheme that took its toll on its players, especially the larger men like Johnson, and the culture of fear that the head coach created, where players were scared to voice their opinions.
"We'd tell our position coaches, but I don't know if it ever leaves that room ... Maybe there was an intimidation factor ... After Shady and all those guys were (subtracted), it opened up some eyes," said Johnson.
The 25-year-old did call Kelly a "brilliant coach," but said Kelly suffered because he brought the same approach he used in college to the pros, failing to understand he was dealing with grown men who were used to a certain level of respect from their head coach.
"It's a learning process. Making the transition from college to the NFL is tough. It's different. If you're set in your ways, maybe closed-minded, not willing to change, it's going to rub people the wrong way," said Johnson. "Just like Nick Saban. He went to the pros, and tried to do the same thing with professional athletes he did with college kids."
