Chip Kelly expects to be the 49ers coach again next season.
"Unless the media has an opportunity for me somewhere," Kelly said in jest, via SFGate.com. "I'll always explore those opportunities."
He added: "I'm not going anywhere."
Considering the circumstances Kelly was hired under, he was an odd choice as a head coach. The 49ers knew the optics of their most recent head coaching shakeup wouldn't allow for another one-and-done candidate like they had last year. Having a third head coach in three years is troubling for a fan base.
But Kelly was coming from a situation in Philadelphia which showed just how different his team building vision is from other coaches. And while Kelly does not have nearly the same say over personnel as he did at his previous job, this year's draft had the coach's fingerprints all over it. Did the team do that with some assurance that he would get another chance regardless of struggles to come?
This offseason is a crucial one, and could be the first time Kelly gets a chance to hand select a quarterback high up in the NFL Draft should his employment prediction come true. At that point, the 49ers better be sure that he's not going anywhere, or else they run the risk of setting the organization back even further than it is now.
