San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke are formally introducing Chip Kelly as the team’s new head coach.
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Baalke said common associates helped the 49ers debunk reports and critiques from Philadelphia, including Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie stating Kelly lacked emotional intelligence. This is going to be a lovely marriage.
Chip Kelly said he holds Jim Harbaugh in high regard. But the 49ers are suddenly far more intriguing than they’ve been at any time in the past year, when they were not only a bad football team but a boring one. “He’s a well-rounded, highly innovative coach with a proven track record of success at every level of competition, including the NFL”, Baalke said. I’m hands-on – you lead with your feet and not with your seat…. “We’re not anxious about the financial part of it”, Baalke said. While Kaepernick has struggled in recent years, he appears on the surface to be the ideal project for Kelly to revitalize.
The San Francisco 49ers contacted Alabama offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, to discuss the possibility of him joining Chip Kelly’s coaching staff in the same job title, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Kelly seems to have a clear vision for what he wants out of this team and didn’t skirt or dance around any of the questions asked by the media.
By league rule, Kelly is not permitted to have football-type interaction with Kaepernick until April 4.
The report will likely show Kelly’s cause of demise in Philly was winning only six of 15 games he coached this season. But none of those guys saw significant improvement over time in Kelly’s offense. But I think one thing all coaches know is we rent. Kelly pointed out the Eagles did not play the 49ers this season and he hasn’t done a lot of tape study on Kaepernick.
“Well, I had clothes on”, he said. Trent had visited me with Jed when I was in New Hampshire, they asked me to come back out and I asked them what’s the deal and they said jump on a plane, so I did.
Kelly also mentioned his father celebrated his 87th birthday on Saturday and he wanted to be home for that. “In terms of Kap, he was very hard for us to play against two years ago”. He added that he received multiple texts from Eagles players after his firing that “meant a lot to me”.
Mathis, Boone, Osemele, Richie Incognito, and Ramon Foster look like the top five impending free agent guards this offseason, and Boone should be the second-most valuable of them when combining both age and ability as factors.
Running backs coach Tom Rathman will be retained, per Kelly (h/t 49ers.com).
“There will be decisions made on everybody through the course of these next weeks as our staff gets put together and we get a chance to evaluate the current players on the team”, Kelly told reporters.
” So how did Kelly react to being described as “borderline crazy”… twice?”
” Kelly shot down criticism that his style of offense has an adverse effect on his defense”.
“When you walk to work, you smell the air around here and you get smarter”, Kelly said. He echoed a similar sentiment to what he shared in his news conference with the Eagles: He does not want the final say on roster decisions.
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“Trent has control of the 53 and I’m real comfortable with that”.
