NFL Network show NFL HQ held a discussion about who was under more pressure in San Francisco, new head coach Chip Kelly or quarterback Colin Kaepernick? Everyone agreed that it was Kaepernick and that Kelly, being a new coach, would be given more of an evaluation time.
On the Kelly front, Elliot Harrison was surprised that Kelly was fired from the Eagles after posting a 26-21 record over three years. "I feel like it's been a little bit unfair. I don't feel like Chip Kelly is as bad a coach as everybody makes him out to be. I think his personnel decisions are more to blame than his coaching," said Harrison.
The counterargument by Bryan McFadden was that Kelly had a lot more talent in Philadelphia when he arrived than he currently does in San Francisco. While Kelly can be a quality head coach, he left the Eagles depleted because of his personnel decisions.
"I can see the personnel decisions being a problem for Chip Kelly, but if you're just hiring a guy to be a head coach – I mean – three years, 26-21, and a playoff appearance, that's tough to argue with. That's not a bad record and I feel like people just wisked him out of town and said, 'Man, enough with Chip Kelly.' I think we should give the guy a chance," continued Harrison.
"He will get his chance and we will also see what kind of coach he is because this team that he has in San Francisco, it's night and day compared to what he had there in Philadelphia," said McFadden who continued to agree that an 8-8 season for the 49ers would be a decent year for the head coach.
You can watch the entire segment below.
Under more pressure: Chip Kelly or Colin Kaepernick?
Kelly will not have the power in San Francisco that he had during his final season in Philadelphia. General manager Trent Baalke is the man in charge of personnel decisions as Kelly focuses only on the coaching element. "I wanted to be in a situation where I can just coach. I want to just coach football and I'm excited about being with someone like Trent [Baalke] and Tom [Gamble] and the rest of the guys in the personnel department," said Kelly during his introductory press conference in January.
"Chip's going to be here for a long time, period," said 49ers CEO Jed York following Kelly's introductory press conference.