Chip Kelly's second chance is Niners' opportunity to fix Harbaugh mistake
San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York stood at a press conference 10 days ago and came as close as he probably ever will in verbalizing that he made a mistake in pushing Jim Harbaugh out as the team's coach after the 2014 season.
"I can't look backwards," York said. "We can't win games we already played. We can't undo decisions that were already made."
Thursday he made it clear, in action, that he was going to learn, not run, from that mistake.
Kelly just finished a three-year run with the Philadelphia Eagles where he showed plenty of ability as an NFL coach, but was undone mostly by terrible personnel decisions after he gained control of the roster last year. He compounded that by what many in the organization have quietly – and former players have loudly – called an aloof and often distant and difficult personality.
The guy can coach. Everything else is questionable.
It sounds, while not perfectly, but in enough ways, like Harbaugh 2.0.
So York will, undoubtedly, get mocked for firing one quirky and challenging figure only to replace him with a guy with perhaps a similar demeanor but less on-field accomplishment (NFL-wise).
Maybe it should be looked at as a positive though, that a lesson was learned and thus York wasn't afraid of the predictable backlash. He really does just want to win, which he often states to the extreme.
The Niners had what everyone in football would agree is an elite coaching talent in Harbaugh. In his first three years on the job he led them to a Super Bowl and two other NFC title games, losing all in razor thin fashion. Then individual dynamics, personality quirks and other soap opera drama led to an undermining in Year 4 and eventually Harbaugh leaving to take over at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
York tried to swing completely in the opposite direction and promoted assistant coach Jim Tomsula even though he'd never even been a coordinator in the NFL. Tomsula's best attribute was a personality that everyone loves, the elevation of a humble, work-a-day figure.
Tomsula won just five games, though, and was fired after a single season.
"In terms of Jimmy T, we took a chance on someone we felt strongly about," York said. "Ultimately that didn't work out. You have to learn from mistakes. You have to learn from failure."
So maybe York did. Maybe he surveyed a fairly weak coaching market with too many teams plucking through it and decided to gamble on coaching upside and talent rather than office comity.
Trent Baalke, who reportedly clashed with Harbaugh the most, will remain the general manager and is in charge of all personnel moves, the team announced. Kelly will coach. It's a good move. Kelly showed no ability as a would-be GM.
Baalke himself said last week that he understands the pressure on him and seemed to indicate maybe he'd softened on how important it is to have everyone getting along all the time. Urgency can cause that.
"I understand the gravity of the situation and understand exactly what this fan base looks for and what this ownership looks for," Baalke said. "It's the San Francisco 49ers. It's about championships. It's about being in a position to compete for championships. You're not going to win it every year. That's unrealistic to think that. But to put yourself in a position to is really the ultimate goal and that's what we're striving to do."
So here comes Kelly, arriving with a 26-21 regular-season record and plenty of proof that his breakneck offense works. As the Niners pointed out in hiring him, his offense ranks "third in points per game [26.9] and total offense [392.8 yards per game]" across the last three seasons.
Is he a genius who completely revolutionized the NFL? Of course not. Did he do enough to show he's more than capable of coaching at this level and deserved a second chance rather than return to college where recruiting allows him to overstock on talent? Absolutely.
Look, no one knows if Kelly will succeed or fail or just flounder in mediocrity in San Francisco. The roster needs work. Quarterback remains a question mark. And there is no telling if Kelly will also adapt.
This may be an example of a coach learning valuable lessons in his first go-around and is now prepared to succeed big time in his second. It's the Bill Belichick in Cleveland corollary. Kelly may also be a leopard incapable of changing his spots and he needs to return to campus where everyone will bow to him.
Predicting one way or the other is just a blind crapshoot. York and Baalke interviewed him, so they have a better perspective than most.
Certainly Kelly will have to alter some of his way of doing business. All great coaches adapt on the fly though. However, it's fairly clear that he is at least capable of being a great coach. Not everyone is.
And that said, the Niners had to alter their way of doing business also. This is the NFL, this is a bottom-line, zero-sum, ultra-competitive exercise. It isn't about everyone being best friends.
You can't win in the league without a top-tier coach. Jed York blew it with the last one they had. He vowed to learn. Hiring Chip Kelly says he did.
Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but York deserves credit for now not allowing personality to scare him away from a potentially potent leader.
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