The San Francisco 49ers have been aggressive in moving members of their 53-man roster as well as coaching staff. Huge changes were applied following the disappointing season of the NFL, with Chip Kelly stepping in as the head coach. With the former Philadelphia Eagles mentor as the new guide for the San Francisco 49ers, fans of the Carlos Hyde squad are hopeful that his innovative and creative approach to football could finally give them a promising Super Bowl shot.
However, it looks like the San Francisco 49ers are in danger of committing the same mistake the DeMarco Murray squad allegedly made when they hired Kelly. That is, the Colin Kaepernick team might fail to maximize blue-chip players due to the head coach's inability to relate to them. Throughout Kelly's stint with the Sam Bradford team, he faced criticisms for his decisions involving fan favorites such as former Dallas Cowboys star Murray and NFL hopeful Tim Tebow.
In the latest comments from veteran guard Evan Mathis, it was revealed how Kelly was unable to manage the talent in the Philadelphia Eagles roster properly. Moreover, he shared that the head coach's moves showed his limited foresight. That is, Kelly did not aim to build a championship team with the Darren Sproles squad.
"There were many things that Chip had done that showed me he wasn't building a championship team," revealed Mathis in an email via USA Today. He added, "Two of the main issues that concerned me were: 1. A never-evolving, vanilla offense that forced our own defense to play higher than normal play counts. 2. His impatience with certain personality types even when they were blue-chip talents. TheBroncos team I was on would have eaten Chip alive. I don't think he could have handled the plethora of large personalities."
Mathis further noted, "I hope Chip learns from his experiences in Philadelphia and grows as a coach," he wrote. "Maybe he'll find some constructive criticism from this.'' The two-time Pro Bowler boasts of a Super Bowl victory with the Denver Broncos. In the recently concluded NFL season, Mathis opted to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, a salary dispute involving Kelly prompted the football star to ask to be released from the team.
The comments of Mathis brings back the issues that plagued Kelly in the past. One of the widely criticized decisions he made was to cut Tebow from the roster at the last minute. With a solid fan base, the Christian star was a heavy favorite for the third quarterback position during the NFL offseason. Despite beating everyone else who vied for the job, Tebow was eventually let go. The move, which fans identify as Kelly's decision, placed the head coach at the top of the hit list of the Christian star's supporters.
This brings the concern to the San Francisco 49ers. Kelly's move to release Tebow was rooted from the Christian star's limited experience. With this logic in mind, fans of Jarryd Hayne now worry of the Aussie's future with the NFL team. Kelly has been know to have very strong influence in the front office. Moreover, his "impatience" might hit Hayne hard as the latter still needs more time to learn the ropes of the football community.
"Jarryd - it's only his second year - it was quite a learning experience for him going from Australian rules football to the National Football League," said Trent Baalke of the Hayne Plane, according to Sunday Morning Herald. The San Francisco 49ers general manager added, "I think if you asked him, he'd tell you his eyes got opened pretty quick, especially when you go from preseason games to the regular season games, just the difference in tempo and everything that goes with that. So [he] learned a lot, did some good things for us and [we're] expecting him to come back and have a better feel for the game."
What do you think? Will Jarryd Hayne finally make the starting lineup of the San Francisco 49ers with Chip Kelly as head coach? Or will he suffer the same fate as Tim Tebow due to his lack of NFL experience?
