<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">49ers store pulls Kaepernick merchandise out of clearance after Chip Kelly hire. <a href="https://t.co/o9CikQKNug">https://t.co/o9CikQKNug</a> <a href="https://t.co/R9i9l008G7">pic.twitter.com/R9i9l008G7</a></p>— SFGate (@SFGate) <a href="https://twitter.com/SFGate/status/687741781832630272">January 14, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New 49ers' HC Chip Kelly will be signing a 4-year, $24 million deal, according to a league source.</p>— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/687949929302593536">January 15, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bringing in Kelly to rehab Kap and help the worst scoring offense in the league is worth a shot. Their roster is an absolute disaster so hard to imagine any coach turning it around, might as well go for the gusto.
This is not going for the gusto... this is trying to salvage one bad investment with another bad investment. I'd say Chip Kelly is on the verge of being on a Mike Martz-like NFL trend... except Mike Martz's offenses had far more success and staying power than Kelly's have shown thus far.
Which like most new coaches/systems, got regressing results with more exposure. His system is a gimmick... with absolute supreme talent, it will probably be effective (as most systems will probably work when talent is at a surplus)... but its highly unlikely any other team adopts or emulates it.
Gusto in terms of high risk/high reward. Like I said, their roster is a complete mess and as bad as he was this season, Kap might have been one of the only selling points for the team. If Kelly can rehab him and install a productive offense, that would be a win. Yes Martz has had far more success and staying power but he was also in the league for almost 30 years, Kelly is going into his 4th.
Kelly's issues have more to do with his personnel decisions than coaching, from what I can tell. Reminds me of a certain local guy.
I just don't believe that Kapernick's deficiencies can be covered up by a very gimmicky offense... I also believe that once the element of surprise/newness of the offense wore off, teams were much better equipped to handle it and eventually succeed against it. If the roster is a complete mess, they need to bring somebody in who can help fix it... not bring somebody in as a potential band-aid for a QB that has several question marks going for him, regardless of the system (I was watching him miss wide open receivers by 20 yards... without pressure).
Weren't you the one that argued with Kubiak that so many coaches have much more success on their 2nd job, and that many of the good coaches today failed their first time around? Why is Kelly different? This is a total misunderstanding of his "system". There's nothing particularly "gimmicky" about it - no more so than the shotgun or no huddle that people were skeptical of and are now used regularly in the NFL. It's actually based on pretty sound principles of identifying and exploiting strategic advantages over a defense.