LeSean McCoy hasn’t been shy about sharing his personal feelings about Chip Kelly since Kelly traded the running back to the Bills last year and little of what he’s had to say has been positive.
During an appearance on NFL Network this week, McCoy compared his experience with Bills coach Rex Ryan favorably to his time with Kelly on the Eagles. He said Ryan “let the leaders, veterans lead” the team while Kelly “dictates how everything is supposed to go” and, as a result, there “aren’t really a lot of leaders on the team.”
McCoy doesn’t think that will be a bad thing for the 49ers, though. For all of his issues with Kelly, McCoy still thinks the coach has good ideas about how to run an offense and that 49ers players will thrive if they accept what Kelly’s selling.
“Every situation is different. The one thing I will say about Chip is that he wants to win,” McCoy said. “He’s very, very intelligent. The offense, they’ll find ways to get the big numbers, they’ll find ways to put the stats up offensively. With him coming in there, no matter how good of a player or low player you are, if you just automatically believe him — no matter if it sounds crazy, you’re like ‘what is he talking about’ — if you just automatically believe and buy in, I think you’ll be fine.”
McCoy and several other Eagles players didn’t seem to go that route when Kelly was in Philadelphia and Kelly’s ability to get things to go the other way will go a long way toward determining if things go better for him in Santa Clara.