During his time in Philadelphia Chip Kelly envisioned a world of interchangeable parts, dictatorship and a high scoring offense but his plan backfired and he was sent packing.
Now he gets an empty locker room to start over, not only for the 49ers but his legacy as well. The team needs a new face, a new leader, a QB, RB, you get the point. They must be rebuilt from the ground up, which fits right into the hands of Kelly.
But does he have the patience, or better yet does the fan base or the front office have it as well? Kelly will inherit a team that in 2 seasons went from the top of the pile in the NFC to the bottom, in what many can describe as a Twilight Zone mystery. From 2011-2013 the 49ers went from losing the Conference Championship to losing the Super Bowl to losing the Conference Championship again then 8-8 to 5-11, pretty much with the same roster give or take a few players.
How?
It’s mind-boggling how fast a team can go from sugar to s*** but this is the nature of sports. Will Kelly be as successful as Jim Harbaugh? Will Carlos Hyde fill the role of Frank Gore and who catches the ball from whoever is behind center? But this is where both parties must be careful.
If the 49ers don’t believe Kelly has a plan they better call Howie Roseman in Philly and get the lowdown. Kelly likes power and the 49ers are perfect for a Kelly power play. GM Trent Baalke must be walking on eggshells now knowing he had to nail this draft. They Niners failed in free agency, managed to pay Colin Kaepernick his $11M roster bonus for a player that said he doesn’t want to be there anymore so his moves are being closely watched by the owners and by Kelly.
[link_box id=”52107″ layout=”link-box-full” alignment=”none”]
With the 7th pick the team selected a defensive player, doing so they pretty much told Kap and Gabbert their the QBs. The ground game might be as bad as Cleveland’s and the receivers are led by Torrey Smith. They had to strike gold with each pick, but each young player selected will bring another person with inexperience.
This is where Kelly will either earn his stripes as a coach or get forever banished from the NFL. I don’t question if he has a great offensive mind but I wonder if he was truly ready to be the IT guy for a team. In Philly he was clearly over his head and now in San Fran he walks into a worse situation as far as talent goes. This may be his last shot at a head coaching job, if he fails here he might have to run back to the NCAA or take a position as an NFL offensive coordinator somewhere.
The 49ers are not the worst team in the league but if Kelly doesn’t let go of his ego he can easily place them there.