Lowell Cohn: What we learned from new 49ers coach Chip Kelly's press conference

SANTA CLARA - Wednesday, they held the Chip Kelly Inaugural Press Conference. I led into it with a column listing five questions Kelly had to answer. During the news conference, the questions mostly came from other journalists. The 49ers public-relations staff passed around a microphone and I got it once. But we asked every question.

First question: What are Kelly's plans for Colin Kaepernick?

“It's an ongoing process of evaluation,” Kelly said. “We have a lot of time. Joe Staley and I talked this morning. It's a process we'll go through between now and April 4th.”

What we learned from that answer: Nothing, actually. He's still evaluating Kaepernick. He's evaluating all players. He's an evaluator. He won't be specific. We also learned he spoke to Staley who, as far as I know, is not Kaepernick. So, we learned Kelly will duck a question smoothly and seem to answer when he does not answer. A politician.

This is not necessarily bad. It means he is his own man, keeps things to himself and does not feel obliged to spill his guts. It may mean he's smart and strong and a good leader. It also may mean he's stubborn and inflexible.

More Kaepernick. Was Kelly attracted to Kaepernick when he decided to accept the 49ers' job?

“Obviously, Kap is an extremely talented football player. But I was also impressed in the film I watched in terms of how Blaine (Gabbert) played.”

What we learned: He already calls Kaepernick “Kap.” He won't elevate Kaepernick over Gabbert or even say Kaepernick is his starter or that the team is committed to “Kap.”

Read into that what you want. But it's no flaming endorsement.

Second question: Is Kelly fully committed to his hurry-up offense? And how does he address the criticism the league caught up with it?

“We're receptive to anything that will help us win football games,” he said, “And I know the difficulty that what we do offensively gives to defenses. There's always tweaks that you do. Our offense will look somewhat like we did in Philadelphia, but we've got different personnel to plug into places.”

Translation: His offense will be exactly the same.

Someone asked if his “read-option” can be an integral part of an NFL offense.

“It's a zone-read, first off,” Kelly corrected the questioner. “When you have the right personnel, you can. I know Russell Wilson and Cam Newton are killing people with it right now.”

What we learned from that answer: Kelly gets sensitive when someone questions the zone-read. He also exaggerated about Wilson and Newton. The Seahawks and Panthers use the read-option - excuse me, zone-read - a small part of the time. They use the threat of it. Kelly uses it as his main strategy. Has the league figured him out?

Third question: Does he see the 49ers next season having a winning record and perhaps making the playoffs?

“That's the goal,” he said. “I don't think anybody goes into a season saying let's get six. I'm not a prediction guy. I'm not going to stand here and say, ‘I guarantee this, I guarantee that.'?”

Translation: He doesn't have a clue.

Fourth question: This one I asked Baalke in the lobby after the news conference. Are the 49ers are in rebuild mode or “reload” mode - how Baalke phrased it last year?

“I don't think anybody will admit in the National Football League that they're in rebuild mode,” he said. “I think we've got a lot of nice young pieces. We've got several key veteran guys coming back. We've got a lot of ammunition over the next several months to improve this football team via free agency, the draft.”

Translation: Notice how Baalke said no one in the NFL will admit they're rebuilding. He won't admit it. But he admitted it. The 49ers are in full rebuild mode. Dial down your expectations.

Fifth question: Someone asked Kelly about “missteps” he made in Philly and if he has “self-evaluated.” Kelly said, “You self-scout after every season. Because I got fired, I looked at it more like an autopsy. I'm in the middle of the autopsy right now.”

What we learned: He ducked the question about ticking off management and some players and reassessing his behavior.

One writer said Eagles players who left the team didn't like Kelly, and owner Jeffrey Lurie said he lacks “emotional intelligence.”

“You always can apply what you learn from your experiences,” Kelly said, emphasizing the obvious. “The text messages and calls I had from the players really meant a lot to me. I feel very comfortable in terms of my relationship with my players there.”

What we learned: Kelly ducked that question, too. Doesn't want to talk about how he might have screwed up, may not want to think about it. Probably won't change a thing about himself.

Two bonus questions:

First bonus question: Kelly's offense is so fast-paced it puts a burden on his defense. How does he respond?

“All I learned is that they (the opposing offenses) stand around better than we stand around. I also have never met a defensive player that says, ‘Coach, I want you to possess the ball for the entire game so I don't have to have to play.'?”

What we learned: Kelly can give a snotty answer. When Peyton Manning takes his time, he and the Broncos are not standing around. They are preparing. The NFL has a history of teams, including the Niners when they won five championships, that prepare between offensive plays. To call that standing around is flippant.

And when Kelly blithely said his defenders want to play, he certainly did not address whether they play too much, which may render them ineffective. These negatives certainly are the knock on Kelly. He owed everyone a serious answer.

Second bonus question: Which famous retired coach is most influential on the 49ers current philosophy?

If you answered Bill Walsh, silly you. Both Baalke and Kelly were proud to announce they are Bill Parcells disciples. They almost shouted “Parcells!!!” What does Parcells have to do with San Francisco football? The Niners have a fabulous history. They need to honor their tradition. Maybe use parts of the West Coast Offense in Kelly's zone-read thing.

Parcell us no Parcells.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.