Never let it be said that Chip Kelly’s not willing to or prepared to communicate with his players.
But now that he’s running the 49ers, he wants to hit the ground running in terms of changing the perception that lingered from his days in Philadelphia.
According to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, one of Kelly’s first acts was to request contact information for each player (apparently even before shopping for clothes so he could have a press conference within a week).
He then started touching base with his new players, including quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert, wide receiver Torrey Smith and linebcaker NaVorro Bowman, among others.
And in his first press conference, he talked about how touched he was by the messages he got from former players (we’re assuming LeSean McCoy was not among them).
“I think you always can apply what you learn from your experiences,” Kelly said. “But, you know, one of the things that struck me when I left Philadelphia was the text messages and calls I had from the players that we had there. It really meant a lot to me.
“And I’m not one that looks at what’s reported, what’s not reported. I’m a pretty black and white guy and when I talk about the relationships that I had with the players there and the many of them that reached out to me when this went down, I feel very, very comfortable in terms of my relationship with my players there.”
And he’s making sure that in his next spot, he starts building a relationship now, even though he can’t talk about football until April 4.