First of all, my condolences to Chip Kelly, whose father Paul passed away on Friday. I lost a parent a few years ago and the heartbreak is a surreal feeling. Kelly will fly back to New Hampshire to be with family, as he should. Hang in there.
As for the future of the 49ers, Jed York can put a definitive answer to it and serve as a stabilizing figure. If he wants to keep Chip Kelly in 2017 and beyond, as Jay Glazer of Fox has reported, the time has come for him to let the public know.
The longer York waits to give Kelly this vote of confidence, the more up in the air Kelly’s job status will be, and the more tension it will create inside the dingy walls of this fading franchise.
York is probably still waffling on who emerges with more power for 2017 and who will still have a corner office in Santa Clara next season. And however much you want to put this mess on GM Trent Baalke, Kelly’s stock is not exactly trending upwards right now.
Losers of 11 straight, the 49ers are in the midst of a historic free fall. There aren’t enough adjectives anymore to properly describe the failure of Chip Kelly’s first year in the Bay Area. The 49ers are getting body slammed by other talentless teams like the Bears, a 26-6 drubbing on Sunday. At some point, this falls on the coaching. Kelly has a lot of explaining to do for what transpired — this week and this season.
Starting with the spring break in sunny Orlando. Apparently preparing all week in 80 degree heat might have a negative impact when you go try and play in the snow. Who knew? Sunday at Soldier Field was arguably the team’s most embarrassing effort of the season, and the Bears were a team Jim Tomsula beat a year ago. Are the 49ers about what helps them win or about what’s convenient?
Kelly’s play-calling in the first half — 30 runs, to 2 passes — was bizarre, even if Colin Kaepernick was struggling with accuracy (1/5, 4 yards). When you see rebellious play-calling like that, it raises some eyebrows.
“I was just watching how the ball was coming off (Colin’s) hands and what our chances were of completing it,” Kelly said via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maybe this was a one-game blip on the radar, and the 49ers will go back to losing close games again next week against the Jets. Maybe benching Kaepernick for Blaine Gabbert was really just to try and give the offense a spark, and Kap will continue to make some big plays.
This is what York has to decide: Were the highs Kelly provided in those close losses to Dallas, Arizona and Miami enough to validate Kelly did anything positive in 2016? York needs to decide now if he wants his head coach to fear for his job the entire month of December. Because if you are going to keep him, that’s not a healthy relationship to build with someone. You either commit to this guy leading your football team, or you leave him in the dark. The decision needs to be made now.
Although if he is leaning one way or the other, York may have a sour taste in his mouth.
A sequence in the second quarter where the 49ers ran it on third-and-15, and then punted on their own 31-yard line is a flawed way of thinking for a team with nothing to lose, and a decision on Kelly’s hands. The 49ers completed just five passes for six yards and committed 11 sloppy penalties, many of which nullified positive passing plays. Kelly’s offense averaged 2.7 yards per play. You wonder if some of those talking heads who chirp about Kelly — Joe Theismann, Trey Wingo, Tim Ryan — have a point when they say the NFL has caught up to his way of thinking.
The defense in particular has taken such a step back in 2016, which falls more on the coaching staff than the front office. Did Kelly spend enough time focusing on the defense alongside coordinator Jim O’Neil? Or are Baalke draft picks like Jimmie Ward and Arik Armstead not the building block guys many were banking on? It’s likely both, and regardless, this defense needs an influx of new players and an entirely new approach at stopping the run.
The evidence is there for York fall for the trap. He has justification in getting rid of Kelly. It would be the knee-jerk reaction we’ve come to except from the man who runs the 49ers.
Or York can come through as a stabilizing voice for the franchise. If he’s dead-set on not firing Kelly, you might as well come out and stick up for the guy. That’s the proper way to build a culture and a cohesive environment.
If York keeps waiting, we know what’s on his mind.