The San Francisco 49ers are expected to fire both head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke, according to reports by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Adam Schefter of ESPN.
The story is posting now on @NLF.com: #49ers are expected to fire coach Chip Kelly and GM Trent Baalke, sources say.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 1, 2017
San Francisco is expected to make sweeping changes, dismissing both HC Chip Kelly and GM Trent Baalke, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2017
According to Rapoport, the firing of both Kelly and Baalke has been described as “likely” by several people with knowledge of the situation.
The writing was on the wall that someone would be getting the axe after Sunday’s finale against the Seattle Seahawks, when CEO Jed York announced Thursday that he would be speaking with the media in a formal setting sometime next week.
The last two times York has held postseason press conferences they were to explain the firings of head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jim Tomsula.
“Chip’s going to be here for a long time,” York said during Kelly’s introductory press conference in January.
If Kelly is indeed let go, he would be the second consecutive 49ers head coach to get canned after just one season. The Niners would owe over $30 million in coach salaries.
Baalke has been the 49ers’ general manager since 2011. San Francisco has gone 7-24 over the last two seasons with a team almost solely constructed by Baalke.
