San Francisco 49ers: Put Up or Shut Up For Chip Kelly

The San Francisco 49ers have hired former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly to be the 49er’s new coach to call the shots.

After a successful first year in Philadelphia in 2013, Kelly quickly saw just exactly how fast a team and its fan base can turn on their once-beloved head coach in times of turmoil. In Kelly’s first year in the NFL he lead the Eagles to a 10-6 record after the team had previously finished 4-12 in 2012. Even though the Eagles lost in the Wild Card round to the New Orleans Saints during Kelly’s first year (the team’s first playoff berth since 2010) things appeared to be looking up for the Eagles and they thought they had found their guy.

Things took a turn for the worse in Philadelphia over the next two years however. The Eagles went 10-6 and 7-9 in 2014 and 2015, missing the playoffs in each of those two seasons and were followed with questions regarding Kelly’s ability to coach an NFL team.

Shortly after the Eagle’s 2014 season had ended the team announced that then-Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman would be stepping down as the General Manager of the team and that Kelly would be taking over as both the head coach and GM of the Eagles, giving him almost absolute control of the team. Kelly wasn’t hesitant in making moves for the Philadelphia roster, trading away longtime Eagles running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso, and signing of standout Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray via free-agency.

These seismic roster changes among other cuts Kelly made that season resulted in mediocrity, disappointment and an abundance of questions from the Eagles in 2015, ultimately leading to Kelly’s firing from the team.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

On Thursday morning, the 49ers had announced that they had hired Kelly to be the new head coach over the likes of Tom Coughlin and Mike Shanahan. Any doubts or fears that anyone may have regarding Kelly being in charge of personnel for the 49ers can now be put to rest, as Kelly has reportedly made it clear that he is just interested in being strictly involved with coaching the team.

This is a major sigh of relief for the 49ers and their fans, as many could be certain that the team has already gone through a massive makeover between the end of 2013 and 2015 and doesn’t need any more major changes being made to the roster.

For Kelly, San Francisco may have well been his best destination to coach in the NFL, and quite possible his only. He has the right tools at his disposal for the type of offense that he runs in quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and could quite possibly surprise some people in San Francisco come September.

Coaching was never an issue for Kelly. His issue was that he let the absolute power get the best of him and made too many moves that didn’t exactly pan out, leading to a mediocre and rather disappointing roster in 2015. Any evidence of Kelly being successful as purely a team’s head coach could be his 46-7 overall record during his time coaching the Oregon Ducks and Marcus Mariota, whom has the same playing style as Kaepernick.

Next: York and Baalke Getting What They Paid For

As stated earlier, Kelly could have exactly what he needs to succeed in San Francisco, should Kaepernick return under center in the 49ers’ offense. All eyes will be focused on whether or not he will be able to turn a 49ers team around who has struggled mightily over the last two seasons.

With no excuses wanted, and hardly any patience for mediocrity, it will be time for Chip Kelly to put up or shut up and get right to work.