For much of the season, people around the San Francisco 49ers have wondered if coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke are on the same page while trying to initiate a rebuild of the roster.
USA Today’s Chris Biderman joined Ray Woodson to discuss the issues with the 49ers, and he believes that any reported rift between Baalke and Kelly is overblown.
“To me, all indications are throughout the season that they’ve been on the same page,” Biderman said.
That page was supposed to be a run-first football team who played strong defense. But none of that has panned out. Further, Chip Kelly’s recent backhanded comments about the lack of playmakers have only intensified speculation about the state of the organization.
But Biderman believes that Kelly was simply giving an honest evaluation of his roster.
“I don’t think there’s really a rift, I think some of that is — I don’t want to say is looking for drama — but it certainly an interesting comment from Kelly’s perspective considering you so often hear coaches just effusively praising every player on their roster. For Kelly to make a realistic assessment of his team like that is notable, but I don’t know (if) it’s something that is creating drama or friction in the front office. I think it’s just a realistic assessment,” Biderman said.
Listen to the full interview below.