Fansided

Chip Kelly refutes rumors he’ll go back to college football

By John Buhler

Oct 16, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly watches play during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field. Buffalo beat San Francisco 45-16. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly watches play during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field. Buffalo beat San Francisco 45-16. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chip Kelly’s San Francisco 49ers are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Despite coaching opportunities in college, Kelly doesn’t want to leave the NFL.

The San Francisco 49ers are a disaster at 1-5. After shutting out the division rival Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football in Week 1, 28-0, the 49ers have lost five straight games. San Francisco is arguably the worst team in football. Is head coach Chip Kelly on the hot seat?

This is Kelly’s first year with the 49ers after three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. His up-tempo offense has become predictable. Would the former standout head coach for the Oregon Ducks fancy a return to the college game with a lucrative Power 5 job?

Kelly dispelled all notions that he wants to go back to coaching in college, saying on Friday at a press conference, “I’m not going anywhere.” This is exactly the type of response Kelly should say. Why would he want to leave one of the 32 NFL head coaching jobs willingly?

The 49ers will likely be picking for a franchise quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft, something Kelly has never had an opportunity to do. Two potentially elite signal callers could be entering the draft in Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer. One of those two has to be better than Blaine Gabbert, Colin Kaepernick, and Christian Ponder, right?

Even if Kelly has instructed his agent to hear out college gigs like LSU, Texas, and maybe even Oregon, why would Kelly want the public to know about his 2017 plans?

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The 49ers’ problems are more to do with personnel than coaching. San Francisco has one of the thinnest rosters in football. Kelly knew this when he took the 49ers job in 2016. Why would he not want to see this through? If he leaves on his own accord, Kelly will have burned his bridge to ever coming back to the NFL.