Chip Kelly's All-Time Ranking Among 49ers Head Coaches

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

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 /

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January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Chip Kelly poses for a photo after being introduced as the new head coach for the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Staying Put

Chip Kelly (2016)

On average, five-win teams improve to 7-9 the next year; regression to the mean means teams don’t stay that bad for that long. Seven wins, then, should be considered par for Kelly in 2016; anything better than that should be considered a successful year, while anything worse than that should be considered a disappointment.

If Kelly finishes 7-9 or 8-8, there’s no reason to downgrade him on the list of 49ers’ historical coaches, but there’d also be no reason to slide him up the list. You need a winning record to crack the top eight in this franchise, but avoiding double-digit losses would keep Kelly from falling out of the average spot he finds himself in right now.

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