It’s time to remove the safe-harbor caveats like “expected” and “plan.” Coach Chip Kelly is out in San Francisco.
Although, as Jay Glazer of FOX has reported, Kelly has yet to be informed of his fate, PFT has learned that Kelly is “definitely” out. The 49ers are cleaning house and starting over. After two years of half measures, both the G.M. and head coach are gone.
The intent to move on from Kelly comes at a time when Glazer has reported that, two years ago, Baalke put the last-second kibosh on the potential hiring of Adam Gase. As one league source observed in response to that news, the obvious effort to make Baalke look bad on the way out the door is one of the reasons the 49ers will have a hard time hiring good people for the job.
It’s one thing to have leaks. It’s quite another to have leaks with an agenda. In this case, the obvious agenda is to make fans feel better about the decision to fire Baalke -- and to feel better about the instincts of the organization when making the next round of hires.
UPDATE 2:03 p.m. ET: Before he’s fired, Kelly will get a chance to talk his way into a second season. It’s not expected to be successful. But crazier things have happened.