Niner Noise
FanSided

Chip Kelly’s All-Time Ranking Among San Francisco 49ers Head Coaches

By Bryan Knowles

January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Chip Kelly (left) and San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke (right) address the media in a press conference after naming Kelly as the new head coach for the 49ers at Levi's Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Chip Kelly (left) and San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke (right) address the media in a press conference after naming Kelly as the new head coach for the 49ers at Levi's Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 13
Next
Kezar Stadium, where the 49ers used to play. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Kezar Stadium, where the 49ers used to play. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports /

Pre-Dynasty Success

Frankie Albert (1956-1958)
Dick Nolan (1968-1975)

We’re now getting into the realm of good, but not great, coaches.

Albert was the 49ers’ first starting quarterback; a left-handed scrambler who invented the bootleg and paved the way for players like Steve Young after him. As a head coach, he was moderately successful, putting up a 19-16-1 record and leading the 49ers to their first ever NFL playoff game; a crushing loss to Detroit where the 49ers blew a 20-point lead after halftime. He got out of coaching because the criticism and spotlight of the job didn’t really agree with him, but he did a fine job while he was there.

Nolan had higher highs than Albert, but lower lows, as well. He was the 1970 NFL Coach of the Year, leading the team to a 10-3-1 record and one game away from the Super Bowl, twice falling to the Dallas Cowboys in NFC Championship Games. The 1970-72 49ers were the first teams in history to have a sustained run of success, rather than pushing through for a year before falling back. Unfortunately, Nolan also led the team into the decline and failures they suffered in the mid-to-late ‘70s; he hung around a little too long for his legacy, and finished his 49ers career with a 54-53-5 record, hovering just above .500.  These two could easily go in either order, depending on how much you value highs versus penalizing lows.

Kelly could pass both of them with a good season this year—think a double-digit win total for the first time since 2013.  Kelly managed this in both 2013 and 2014 in Philadelphia; if he can pull the same trick again and double the 49ers’ win total from last year, I’d have no problem putting him above the more  extended and more mixed track records of Albert and Nolan, at least for now.

Next: Joe Thomas' First Mistake