Mike Shanahan did not want Colin Kaepernick

But Kelly did heap praise on the 49ers for having gone to the Super Bowl three years ago, even if, by the end of last season, only three starters from that team were still starting: left tackle Joe Staley, inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman and outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks.

And those words are now irreversibly attached to Kelly’s coaching resume as much as “up tempo” and “innovative”. But the deciding factor for the 49ers was that they believe that Shanahan did not want to keep Colin Kaepernick as a quarterback, and wanted to move on.

Kelly said he has an open mind about Kaepernick and his replacement, Blaine Gabbert. The specifics are unclear as to exactly what happened, but contact was made.

Kelly wasn t about to apologize for how his up-tempo offense often meant more time on the field for his defense.

The 49ers want to get back to their winning ways, and they want Chip Kelly to lead them. “I would call it a style of leadership that values information and all of the resources that are provided and at the same time values emotional intelligence”.

Kelly insisted he is perfectly content letting general manager Trent Baalke call the shots when it comes to personnel and the 53-man roster.

I’ll remember Kelly for the excitement he brought here, particularly in the first year and a half, and the way he turned a 4-12 squad into a playoff participant and contender that went 10-6 twice and became a regular on the featured Sunday night and Monday night games.

Baalke said he is looking forward to working with Kelly, who replaced Jim Tomsula. So, I think statistics will bear out you probably need two quarterbacks in this league with the injury rate that quarterbacks have. What we did well, what we did poorly, how can we improve as a team? He got rid of me and got [Murray].

In fact, he said of losing his job with the Eagles, “I looked at it as more of an autopsy.”. “The way this personnel department is set up and how they structure things, I’m excited to be a part of it”. I’m not going to talk about his salary.

Here are five things he must change with the 49ers.

Some former players, such as LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson, have been critical of Kelly. Kelly realizes the immediate challenge he faces coaching in the NFC West against Seattles Pete Carroll — a former nemesis in the college game when Carroll was at USC and Kelly at Oregon — Arizonas Bruce Arians and Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

“I think you always can apply what you learn from your experiences”, Kelly said. Then we didn’t win enough games in my past year and it wasn’t a good situation. I don’t think that is really something that I’m here to do. I’m not trying to make excuses, but we weren’t as bad as some of the numbers look. “But I was also impressed in the film I watched in terms of how Blaine played this year also. Baalke is picking the players, but Kelly is the man now.

The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly interested in Lane Kiffin, but should he be interested in them? All he has to do is bide his time and wait for Baalke to have one more crummy off-season, and perhaps control will be his. Tom Gamble has had a chance to work with both of us.

“I’m not a prediction guy”, Kelly added, per the team’s website, when asked about what the team’s expectations are in 2016. “That’s a nice bridge when you have a guy that you trust and he’s able to basically give you the lay of the land with respect to the relationship that he had in the building in Philly”.