Chip Kelly is the new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
Kelly, fired last year at the end of his third season coaching the Eagles, has been hired by the 49ers today.
Although Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia will be remembered mostly for his disappointing 2015 season, in which he was given full personnel control and didn’t know what to do with it, he did have success in his first two seasons with the Eagles. In San Francisco, G.M. Trent Baalke will pick the players, and Kelly will coach them. Coaching is what Kelly does best.
The first question is whether the quarterback Kelly coaches will be Colin Kaepernick. It appeared that Kaepernick’s tenure in San Francisco was coming to an end when he was benched last season, but Kelly’s offense could be suited to Kaepernick’s skill set, and it’s now possible that Kaepernick could remain.
What’s clear is the 49ers needed a coach to shift the franchise’s direction after the disastrous decision to replace Jim Harbaugh with Jim Tomsula. Kelly may be more like Harbaugh, and therefore an improvement in San Francisco.