"Well, that's a great question because when he came to the Eagles, a lot of people [said] 'Aw, he's going to go back to college. He's just going to be here for a couple of years,'" said Bruno. "But if you look at his body of work with the Eagles, the first two years – pretty good. The last year was obviously a mess. The second season, things went bad at the end and then this past season, things weren't good really for the most part all year long. They had a couple of stretches here and there, but I think Chip's offense is solid.
"I think he's learned. I think he's not going to just try and run everything fast, fast, fast and then put the defense on the field and get them worn out like we saw with the Eagles. His defense was bad for a few years and then finally started getting better, but then they started turning the ball over.
"To me, it's all about the defense with Chip Kelly's offense. If your defense can go out there and make some stops – you can't go three and out and three and out and three and out. And that's the problem with the offense. You can score quickly and that's great, as long as you get the ball back. But if you score quickly and your defense can't stop the other team and they're driving the ball down the field allowing long drives, it's hard to win that way consistently. So, I'm sure Chip's learned from what happened in Philly. I'm sure he'll make adjustments, but I think he's a great coach. I think he's a great offensive mind and the people who think he's just a college guy – I disagree. I think Chip Kelly is a good pro coach. Hopefully with his chance here in San Francisco, he can prove that."
The discussion then turned to Mike Vrabel turning down the 49ers defensive coordinator job in January, which was an odd occurrence at the time. Bruno was asked, "Shouldn't you take a great job like that if you're offered, Tony?"
"Absolutely," Bruno answered. "I mean, the Eagles had some guys that were defensive coordinators back in the end of the Andy Reid era and then they obviously couldn't do it because they didn't have the talent."
Regarding the 49ers, Bruno said, "I know they've lost a lot of good players and a lot of the defensive guys have moved on or retired, but to me, if you're a team that's known for defense, why would you turn that job down? It's like a head coaching job. People talk about, 'This team's a bad team' – there's only 32 of them. So if you want to be a good coach, I know you're going to have to suffer, but it's not like the Niners ... the Niners have had a couple of shaky years and last year was obviously a mess, but to me, it's still one of the great franchises and you have to take advantage and grab that job and build your name with it.
You can listen to the entire interview on 95.7 The Game. The 49ers portion begins at about the 8:45 mark.
