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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I have no photographs of Red Hickey, so enjoy these 49ers fans! Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /

Extended Mediocrity

Red Hickey (1959-1963)

Red Hickey doesn’t actually have a losing record as a coach; he finished his 49ers’ career at 27-27-1. That’s pretty much the definition of mediocrity; Hickey’s teams never finished more than two games above .500 or less than three games below it. He invented the shotgun formation, so he’s a historically important coach, but not a particularly good one.

A 6-10 season would technically be an improvement over last year for the 49ers, but it’s not exactly something that would earn Kelly a parade or anything of that nature. Pretty much the only time you should celebrate a six-win season would be if you were the worst team in the NFL the year before, and the 49ers’ haven’t been that bad since 2004. A double-digit loss season would push Kelly under Hickey in my book.

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