Programming note: Chip Kelly's introductory press conference will be on Wednesday at 11am. Watch it live on CSN Bay Area, and streaming right here.
Head coach Chip Kelly was hired on Thursday, but his introductory press conference with the 49ers would have to wait.
Kelly's formal introduction and Q&A session with reporters will take place on Wednesday morning -- apparently due to his work in putting together a coaching staff, along with travel conflicts involving him and general manager Trent Baalke.
But we might already have an idea where Kelly stands on some issues and what he can be expected to say when asked about the situation he is inheriting. Three years ago when Kelly became the Philadelphia Eagles’ coach, two of his most in-depth media sessions came at the NFL scouting combine in February and the NFL owners meetings.
In those two settings, he shared some answers that might be applicable to his approach with the 49ers.
Here are some of the things he said during the first three months of 2013:
On evaluating the roster he inherited with the Eagles:
"I've watched every game. I've watched every (video) cut-up of our current players, but until you see them in person, at our first minicamp, you don't really know. The film will tell you a lot, but it doesn't tell you everything. Part of making decisions is about meeting them as players and kind of finding out what their work ethic is like, what they're like on the practice field, what they're like in the weight room.
(The 49ers, because they have a new coach, are allowed to begin their offseason program on April 4.)
On who will be the starting quarterback:
"I can't predict the future. I have no idea. But with the amount of reps we get in practice, everybody's going to get a shot at throwing the football around. The best players are going to play."
On the first thing he looks for with a quarterback:
“I don’t think there’s a first thing because there are a million things. So there’s not one thing that trumps the other things. The ability to grasp the offense, No. 1. No. 2, how do they process it when they’re on the field? Can you take it from drill to practice? There are a lot of guys that are great in drills, but when you get them in, they’re OK in 7-on-7, and more people get to 11-on-11 and they’re not as good as they look in drills. So how do they transfer that knowledge from a drill to practice, when you start to get in more team situations. You’re evaluating them as a football player. You’re evaluating, really, mostly when we’re doing 11-on-11 stuff, because that’s how the game’s played.”
On using the read option in the NFL:
"It depends on who your quarterback is. If you (a media member) were my quarterback, probably not. You have to adapt."
On whether the quarterback-driven run game will be around very long:
“I don’t have a crystal ball and can be able to predict if everybody’s going to do it. I don’t know. They used to say three yards and a cloud of dust. Everybody throws the ball a lot more than they used to. Twenty years ago, if you would’ve told somebody we’re going to throw the ball 65-to-70 percent of the time, they would’ve told you that’s a recipe for disaster. They would’ve told you that you have to run the ball and play good defense. The game’s always evolving."
On what he is looking for with his offensive line:
"There's a certain toughness you have to have to play the offensive line, and there's got to be some athleticism. You've got to be able to move and you've got to be able to play in space against some really, really good defensive linemen in this league.”
On whether he prefers a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense:
Whatever you call it -- it’s 4-3, 3-4 -- there’s seven guys. However you want to space them out, it’s still seven guys, and four secondary guys. So I’ve never gotten caught up in what the number is.”
On allowing his defensive coordinator to run the defense:
“I never wanted to be micromanaged when I was a coordinator. I think it’s a recipe for disaster. If you get a head coach looking over in the middle and saying, ‘Hey, run this.’ I’m an offensive guy, so I’m going to be in the offensive meeting room, so I’m not going to be in there and it’s very difficult to say, ‘Hey, this is what I think you should do.’ But I think you spend all week long understanding the game plan and meeting with those guys and knowing what they’re doing, giving your feedback during the week, but on gameday, I just think that’s a recipe for disaster.”
