49ers pleased with the way Chip Kelly has run training camp
Kelly consulted with a group of older players and solicited their opinions before the right tackle came back to the roster.
In Philadelphia, cornerback Brandon Boykin charged that Kelly wordlessly would blow past players in the hallways, and owner Jeffrey Lurie made it clear that Kelly’s inability to connect with people led to his dismissal.
After firing Kelly, whose relationship with general manager Howie Roseman became untenable, Lurie said he was seeking “emotional intelligence” in his next head coach.
Has Kelly changed some of his methods after his 26-21 tenure in Philadelphia ended with a 6-9 record and a host of locker-room howling?
I mean, you put 20 people in a room and you’re going to have 19 different opinions going one way or another about one other person.
There are players, (Philadelphia defensive end) Connor Barwin, guys like that, that said I was a great communicator there.
Former Eagles safety Walter Thurmond was a staunch supporter who said some of the anti-Kelly sentiment was a case of players being “too sensitive.”
Tight end Zach Ertz, a Stanford alum, said he had a normal coach-player relationship with Kelly, hailing his ability to maximize his potential and limit injuries with his focus on sports science.
[...] former Philadelphia quarterback Thad Lewis, who spent 2015 with Kelly, signed with the 49ers after Kelly was hired, partly based on his strong relationship with the head coach.
Since the 49ers have reported for training camp, though, a popular topic has been Kelly’s player-friendly schedule.
Kelly, who is fanatical about his players getting proper sleep, has scheduled the majority of the practices for 10:25 a.m., which will allow the 49ers to leave the facility at a reasonable hour.
[...] it dates to his first head-coaching job seven years ago: “It’s the same thing we did at Oregon and the same thing I did in Philadelphia.”
With the Eagles, his players took daily urine tests to measure hydration, which some found intrusive.