When the Philadelphia Eagles hired Chip Kelly, they did so because they thought the old NFL way, under veteran head coach Andy Reid, just wasn’t going to work. For all of the success Reid had in Philadelphia, it seemed he’d never get the team over the hump.

The answer would be to completely flip the Eagles and the NFL on its head.

Kelly wasn’t coming to the NFL to do things the NFL way. Kelly wanted to run an offense different than the league had ever seen, at a pace the league had never seen. It seems clear as Kelly gets set to enter his third season as head coach in Philadelphia, that his volatile entrance into the NFL will end with Kelly either looking like a genius, or an absolute disaster.

This offseason, Kelly decided he needed to have complete control over the shaping of his roster, and in a matter of days, rumors of Kelly possibly walking away from Philadelphia after two 10-6 seasons turned to news that the Eagles shook up the front office, and gave Kelly complete control of player personnel. Vice President of player personnel Tom Gamble was let go, and General Manager Howie Roseman was “promoted” to executive vice president of football operations, leaving Kelly with the ability to mold the roster in his image.

Now it’s up to Kelly to implement his plan, and the early stages of his plan have been to jettison some pretty talented football players and open up some cap space for him to remodel the roster to his liking.  After ridding the team of fan favorites each of the last two years, and his power grab earlier this off-season, Kelly better have a plan, and it better be a good one.

The first moves for Philadelphia weren’t surprising. Philadelphia began the bloodletting by cutting tight end James Casey, who never became the factor they hoped when they signed him away from the Houston Texans. The team also released guard Todd Herremans, who, for as good as he is, is a guard coming off of his 11th season.

The team then moved on from veteran corner Cary Williams in what had to be the least surprising move in Philadelphia. Several times Williams took issue with Kelly’s way of coaching during his time with the Eagles. While Williams isn’t a superstar, he was a key member and glue guy for the Baltimore Ravens during their recent Super Bowl run. A veteran player like Williams openly questioning Kelly is fuel for those aren’t sure Kelly’s scheme can work in the NFL.

Kelly’s next two moves may be Eagles fans least favorite moves during his entire tenure in Philadelphia, as he parted ways with veteran pass rusher Trent Cole, and of course agreed to trade LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso. For some, Kelly’s desire to move on from players who are perceived to have a large personality, or his continuing to stack his team with former Oregon Ducks is a sign of arrogance, but former NFL executive Bill Polian doesn’t see it that way.

“Chip has a plan and he’s going to follow it, and he really doesn’t care what any other person thinks about it,” said Polian on the Colin Cowherd show Wednesday. “He’s going to do his thing.”

It isn’t ego, it’s belief in your system,” explained Polian. “You have a system, you understand what is important and what is not important in it. You understand what you can sacrifice. You understand what the financial issues are. That’s all part of running a football team. It has nothing to with ego, it has to do with how you set up your plan and how you operate your plan.”

Whether it’s arrogance or a knowledge of what his team needs to succeed doesn’t really matter. What matters for Kelly and the Eagles is that he gets this offseason right. Right now this is a team down Herremans, Williams, Cole and McCoy, and a team that could see Jeremy Maclin bolt via free agency. How Kelly decides to spend his new found cap space, and how he replaces some of these key players from the Eagles roster may just decide his fate in Philadelphia.

While it’s easy to criticize Kelly right now after stripping the roster of some of its biggest names, it might not be that way in three weeks. While the Eagles have moved on from some big names, Maclin is the only player that might still have upside left. Williams, Cole and McCoy may all produce for someone next season, but they’re all on the downside of their careers, and Philadelphia now has a lot of money to spend on a strong free agent class.

Perhaps Kelly will sign five or six players who fit his system better than anyone could have imagined, or perhaps the Eagles suddenly become players for a guy like Ndamukong Suh, or Darrelle Revis. Philadelphia’s secondary was torched last season, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them in on Revis if he hits the open market as he’s almost certain to do.

Regardless of what the plan is, Kelly has put himself in a position to make some roster additions that will help his image after all of the departures. Of course, at the end of the day, as Bill Polian pointed out, Kelly doesn’t really give a damn what the rest of us think! It’s his plan, and he’s going to implement it as he sees fit. However, after a bloodletting that saw Chip pushing people out of the front office and cutting or trading some of Eagles fans favorites, it better be a good plan, because Philadelphia fans will want to run him out of town if his plan falls flat.