McCoy: Eagles' Kelly got rid of "good black players"

PHILADELPHIA, May 6 (UPI) -- Former Eagles star running back LeSean McCoy may be done running with his legs in Philadelphia, but he isn't finished running his mouth.

McCoy told ESPN that Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly doesn't like or respect the stars on the team. He also commented on Kelly having a racial preference when it came to personnel decisions.

"The relationship was never really great," McCoy told ESPN. "I feel like I always respected him as a coach. I think that's the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That's the truth. There's a reason. ... It's hard to explain with him. But there's a reason he got rid of all the black players -- the good ones -- like that."

McCoy, 26, was traded to the Buffalo Bills in March for linebacker Kiko Alonso.

In March, former Eagles player and assistant coach Tra Thomas also told Fox that there is racism in the organization.

"One of the things that you're seeing right now, and these are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that ... they feel like there is a hint of racism," Thomas told Fox. "I personally ... when you put that tag on someone, you gotta be careful with that, but there are some of the players that kind feel like that's what it is. Especially when there was a report that came out last year that the Eagles were one of the whitest teams in the NFL. So you start to see the culture of the team change extremely quickly, when Coach Kelly takes over."

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith recently commented on Kelly's personnel decisions.

"It's like you gotta be his kinda guy, you know," Smith said. "And when Riley Cooper's your kind of guy..."

"Let's get beyond the system though, the operative word is culture," Smith said. "The culture is what resonates with me more profoundly because I'm looking at Chip Kelly and I'm like ... really? I mean, this is Philadelphia. I'm always in Philly, and I'm telling you right now you got people walking the streets and and and ... hell with it ... you got brothas walking the streets going like 'What's up with Chip? I don't understand this."

"Now I'm not saying I know, I'm just gonna say that it does strike me as a tad bit odd. I'm gonna repeat this. Gone: LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, ya know, DeSean Jackson. Staying: Riley Cooper."

Cooper was fined by the Eagles in 2013 after being caught on video using a racial slur.