Welcome to the ever changing world of the
NFL and the NFC West in
particular. With the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals still firmly
entrenched in the race to Super Bowl 50, the divisions other two teams have
decided that they do not want to be out of the NFL news cycle for long either.
As I wrote previously, the Rams are on the move back to Los Angeles and it does seem that moves
are afoot to reintroduce the old LA Rams uniforms, and now the San Francisco 49ers have decided it was
their turn to make the headlines. For a
team based not a million miles away from Silicon
Valley, it may be fitting that a man called Chip was today confirmed as the
new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
In terms of coaching personalities, the NFC
West was already well off with Bruce
Arians and Pete Carrol
established as two of the more characterful coaches in the game. Chip
Kelly was a coach who probably ranked up there with these two and now he
joins the sidelines of the NFC West we are in for some interesting divisional
matchups next year.
In many ways it feels a strange
appointment, Kelly was involved in a big power play last season where he wanted
full control of personnel decisions and the 53 man roster, whereas he comes to
San Francisco with Trent Balke
established as the GM so will Kelly be able to let go of that and focus just on
Head Coaching duties? I think that even
though it was known that Kelly was interviewing with the Niners, it was thought
that Kelly may have really been maneuvering towards the Tennessee Titans and the chance to once again work with Marcus Mariota. However, the coaching carousel is beginning
to stop with jobs disappearing from the market, and the Niners needed to act
before it was too late.
There is a common theory that in the NFL if
you fire a coach you go for the opposite of what you had last time when
choosing the next, a theory that rings true today. Jim
Tomsula a first time head coach with a career in defensive coaching could
not be more removed from the offensive
schemes of Chip Kelly.
Kelly will of course have a fairly high
draft pick in San Francisco and till now the common thought was that would be
used on a QB, and of course it still might.
However, Kelly has made no secret of the fact that he has been a big fan
of Colin Kaepernick and was rumored
to be looking to sign him to run his scheme wherever Kelly was to coach next
(according to NFL reporter Ian
Rapportport). Landing in San
Francisco Kelly inherits Kaepernick anyway, so this may just be the second
chance Kaepernick needs and maybe it will now be Blaine Gabbert looking for a backup role elsewhere next year.
The Kelly system has always worked best
with a mobile athletic QB who can provide a running threat, something Kelly
hasn’t had since Mariota and something Kaepernick has been encouraged to move
away from after the 49ers Super Bowl season 3 years ago, this could then be a
match made in Silicon Heaven. If this is
the plan that is great news for the Niners in many ways, if they are not taking
a QB early then they can use that pick for another playmaker which the team
needs, be it at Receiver or Pass Rusher.
Fair to say that when Free Agency and draft
time come around the 49ers may be quite active as Kelly looks to overhaul what
was a disappointing team last year when compared to their history. However history also tells us that coaches
with new offensive schemes tend to do well in San Francisco, Bill Walsh and the West Coast offence anyone! It is fair to say this appointment is not
universally liked, but if Kelly can recreate the former magic with Kaepernick
or Gabbert or a draft pick then the fans will be there, and for the most part
whether you like his systems or training regimes or not Kelly has won games
just about everywhere he has been, last season aside. He has some pieces in place in San Francisco
will the QB proof system be reborn, watch this space it should be fun to watch.
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