Jan 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles new head coach Chip Kelly addresses the media during a press conference at the Philadelphia Eagles NovaCare Complex. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Chip Kelly and the Eagles welcomed eight players to Philadelphia over this weekend’s NFL Draft, half of which hail from Kelly’s former collegiate conference, the Pac-12. USC’s Matt Barkley, Stanford’s Zach Ertz, Oregon State’s Jordan Poyer and Utah’s Joe Kruger are now all in Kelly’s ranks, and as he told ESPN, this was all complete coincidence.

“It wasn’t certainly by design,” he said after the draft. “Now, when people look back at the draft and try to analyze it and try to see how it happened — I think it kind of just happened.”

Coincidence or not, Kelly drafted four players that he has seen develop over the past four years, and a couple of which were on teams that handed his Ducks losses over during his tenure. Barkley and Ertz had the most success against Oregon, and that could have played a large part in why Kelly wanted them on his roster in the NFL.

Against Stanford in 2012, tight end Ertz caught 11 balls for 106 yards and one touchdown in the Cardinal’s 17-14 victory over the Ducks in the notoriously hard to play in, Autzen Stadium. For Barkley, he completed 24 of 26 passes for 323 yards, threw four touchdowns and just one interception in USC’s 38-35 thrilling win at Oregon in 2011, ending a 21-game winning streak for Oregon at home, and a 19-game conference winning streak. Over four years Barkley completed 61-percent of his passes against the Ducks and threw 12 touchdowns, despite the fact that the Trojans only beat the Ducks one out of four times under him.

Kelly has spoken highly of Barkley since drafting him, saying that the Eagles had him rated one of the Top 50 players in the draft, and that he always disliked playing against Barkley in college because he knew what the quarterback could do.

Ertz, Poyer and Kruger all seem like logical picks for Kelly on face-value, but many have questioned how Barkley would fit into his scheme, given his penchant for agile, mobile quarterbacks and quick-tempo offenses. Contrary to the belief that Barkley can’t be that type of quarterback, he is very capable of making quick in-game adjustments and has proven pocket-passing abilities, traits that Kelly deeply admires about him.

While Barkley, Ertz, Poyer and Kruger have spent their college careers as conference foes, they will now join forces under a coach that they have seen wreak havoc on their respective teams, a coach that they have seen win and win big. Kelly’s strategic decision to go with talent that he is very familiar with–coupled with that of the other four draft picks–could go a long way for crafting the Philadelphia Eagles into a very competitive team going forward.

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USC saw four Trojans get their names called during this weekend’s 2013 NFL Draft, bringing the total to 480 all-time in school history. The Trojans continue to hold the record for most athletes drafted into the NFL, though this year’s event saw very few Men of Troy get picked.

Somewhat surprisingly, wide receiver Robert Woods was the first Trojan to be summoned into the pros, receiving his call in the second round from the Buffalo Bills. They selected him with the 41st overall pick, and got the ball rolling for USC’s draftees after a slow start. In the third round, safety T.J. McDonald found himself selected by the St. Louis Rams with the 71st pick and all the while USC fans and analysts alike began to wonder why a certain quarterback had yet to be picked up this late in the draft.

Finally, at the beginning of the fourth round and with the 98th pick, Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles caused quarterback Matt Barkley’s phone to light up, putting an end to the anxiety and speculation. The fourth round was surely not where Barkley saw himself going when he elected to stay at USC for his senior year, but despite the fall from grace, he now has the opportunity to learn a system under Kelly and his current starting quarterback, Michael Vick. This mentorship could really serve Barkley well, allowing him to be properly groomed for a promising pro life that recently has evaded USC quarterbacks.

The last Trojan to be drafted also happened in the fourth round, when the Indianapolis Colts picked up center Khaled Holmes with the 121st overall selection.

Four other Trojans got signed with NFL teams immediately after the draft, the most surprising of which being cornerback Nickell Robey. Though he is slight of size and stature, Robey had a standout career at USC and was thought to be good enough to get selected during one of the NFL Draft’s seven rounds. That ultimately proved not to be the case, but he will join Woods with the Bills this season, as an undrafted free agent. Safety Jawanza Starling signed with the Houston Texans, defensive end Wes Horton with the Carolina Panthers, and running back Curtis McNeal with the Pittsburg Steelers.

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Matt Barkley’s dream has come true, as he’s gone from a four-year starter at both Mater Dei and USC, to become the sixth USC quarterback in 10 years to be drafted into the NFL. Barkley was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 98th pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, in Saturday’s fourth round.

Like Geno Smith and Ryan Nassib, Barkley was shutout of the first round and day of the draft. Only one quarterback was selected in the draft, Florida State’s E.J. Manuel, who went to Buffalo at No. 16. Barkley’s favorite target at USC, Robert Woods, was also not selected in the first round, falling to the Bills in the second.

Then day two happened, with Barkley striking out again, as Smith wound up going to the New York Jets in the second round and Mike Glennon landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 73rd overall pick. Nassib, who at one point last month considered to be a potential top ten pick, also has had a long wait, going undrafted in the first three rounds.

At first, Barkley was long considered to be the top quarterback in the draft, after he was rumored to even give Robert Griffin III a run for his money in last year’s draft, had he not returned to USC for his senior season.

The senior season took a toll on Barkley, as he threw a career high 15 interceptions in 2012, including nine in his last four games, before ultimately being knocked out for the season by a hit from UCLA’s Anthony Barr that left Barkley with an AC sprain.

Barkley missed the last two games of the season against No. 1 Notre Dame and the Trojans’ dismal Sun Bowl loss to Georgia Tech on New Years Eve. Despite not throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Barkley threw at USC’s Pro Day on March 27th, and showed no signs of lingering pain from his shoulder injury.

After all was said and done in 2012, the rise in interceptions and his injury led to concerns of Barkley’s arm strength and decision making, which ultimately found him going into today as a second round projection.

While at USC, Barkley set a slew of school and Pac-12 records, including career touchdowns with 116 to best Matt Leinart, and career passing yardage with 13,327 yards to surpass Carson Palmer.