Chip Kelly is the Perfect Fit for San Francisco

With preseason around the corner, San Francisco continues to scramble with their depth chart. At the helm of the madness is Chip Kelly, looking to prove to the NFL of his coaching prowess.

Kelly soured his relationship with the Eagles after ruthless cuts to Pro Bowl players when he took over general manager responsibilities.

The release of guard Evan Mathis and wide receiver DeSean Jackson, after his best professional season, left Kelly wide open to criticism from fans and analysts alike, but trading Eagles all-time rushing leader LeSean McCoy and watching Jeremy Maclin walk after his best statistical season forced the Eagles to remove him when they fell to a 6-9 record.

It is easy to get caught up with the confusion between Chip Kelly the GM and Chip Kelly the Head Coach. Chip Kelly the GM cut the Super Bowl hopeful Eagles into a rebuilding project, but Kelly the Head Coach has a 26-21 record in his first three seasons in the NFL.

For comparison, Pete Carroll went 25-23 in his first three seasons while Bill Belichick struggled with a 20-28 overall record. Kelly’s quarterback talent pool remained dry in his three seasons with Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Sam Bradford, and Mark Sanchez which makes his record all the more impressive.

His offenses with these rotating quarterbacks led the Eagles to the No. 4, No. 3, and the No. 13 ranked offense, the highest ranked offense over the span of the last three years.

Luckily for Kelly, San Francisco beat him to the punch with gutting a Super Bowl hopeful team. The valuable assets in the bay are few and far between with Carlos Hyde, Navorro Bowman, and Joe Staley being the only true Pro-bowl talents. But Kaepernick is a quarterback that could easily fit into Kelly’s collegiate offensive scheme and reach the ceiling he has hit before.

There was a time when Kaepernick was an elite quarterback and with the right coaching and system, he could possibly hit his peak again. Or at least improve from his last two mediocre campaigns.