The first thing you notice about Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers and their new coach, Chip Kelly, is how far it is from the city itself—about an hour’s drive south to Santa Clara in a neighborhood dominated by corporate office buildings. With its exposed white framework, the stadium has a slight resemblance to one of the roller coaster rides in the neighboring Great America Theme Park, except for the nine-story tower that houses the press box, luxury suites and other VIP areas. Since it opened in 2014, the place has had its share of issues, including grass that won’t stay rooted and fans in the seats opposite the suite tower squinting into the sun during afternoon games—and roasting in the heat due to the total absence of shade. None of these, however, are of concern to the suite tower occupants, who are the primary clientele for whom the structure was designed. For these, a visit to Levi’s Stadium resembles a stay at a four-star hotel or lunch at the neighborhood country club more than a live football game. Experiencing the NFL in this way might lose some of its excitement, but for those who can afford it, it’s probably preferable to an afternoon cheek to jowl with the lunatics in the Oakland Coliseum’s Black Hole. Nor would they likely miss the trough urinals at Candlestick Park.
Kelly should be used to state-of-the-art facilities, having come from the relatively new Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Autzen Stadium at the University of Oregon, but a visit to the adjacent 49ers Museum might suggest that his new home is a different kind of place. Though the 49ers have been in existence since 1946, the majority of the exhibits and hall-of-fame inductees pertain to the 1981-1998 era when the franchise won its championships. Assuming Kelly has paid a visit, he has likely seen the following:
1. The Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. Super Bowl Gallery, containing the 49ers’ five Lombardi Trophies.
2. The Hall of Fame Gallery, with a statue of Bill Walsh and Joe Montana occupying center stage among the various inductees.
3. The football caught by Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship Game in January 1982, a relic from one of the most iconic moments in NFL history.
The ghosts of 49ers past have followed the team down to Santa Clara. However, the current reality of the 49ers, who actually exceeded expectations by winning five games in 2015, is nothing like their storied past, and they clearly hired Kelly in the hope that he could make miracles happen with one of the least talented rosters in the NFL. Given what he accomplished in his first two years in Philadelpha, this is a possibility, assuming that the NFL hasn’t adjusted yet to his novel offensive schemes. I would suggest, however, that he will not enjoy long-term success in San Francisco until he finds a way to channel Bill Walsh’s savant-like ability to assess talent. His record in this regard is not promising, judging from his last year in Philadelphia and current assessments of the 49ers’ recent NFL draft, reflecting perhaps a disproportionate affinity for ex-Oregon Ducks and other Pac-12 players. If Kelly doesn’t get a lot better in this regard, I would expect his tenure here to end a lot faster than the three years he got in Philadelphia. The NFL is still the Not-For-Long league.
On the other hand, if Kelly rediscovers his magical formula for success, his problems may have only begun. It’s hard to believe now with his demigod status, but Walsh himself was nearly fired on several occasions during his decade with the 49ers, when Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. expected annual Super Bowl victories in return for the unprecedented pre-salary-cap largess he bestowed on the team (in those days, players who had a good game might find envelopes from Mr. D in their lockers afterward with ten grand in cash). Eddie D. may not occupy the owner’s suite now, but there are still a lot of people in the organization, let along the fan base, who remember the days when new Lombardi Trophies would arrive in the case before the old ones started to tarnish. They are hungry for a return to glory days and still grieving their previous Messiah, Jim Harbaugh, who teased them for three years and then flamed out and fled back to the NCAA. It is still Super-Bowl-or-bust in San Francisco, and Kelly ultimately will be judged by his ability to succeed where Harbaugh failed. It seems unlikely that Kelly has experienced this level of expectations before, even at Oregon, and we shall see if he is up to the challenge.
– Chuck Strom
