Chip Kelly was hired as head coach of the 49ers in large part due to his offensive prowess.
Former 49ers coach Mike Nolan, however, does not believe fixing an offense that ranked 32nd in the league in points last year is Kelly's biggest task.
"The other thing that I think is really important for Chip, in my opinion, is he's got to dismiss some of these personality things that he's got with his football team," Nolan said this week on NFL Network. "I think he's got to get a structure in place, and he's got to build that chemistry on that football team because that's really what they've lost."
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The structure was lost and the culture changed as the 49ers switched regimes in 2014, moving from Jim Harbaugh to Jim Tomsula.
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Harbaugh in his first three campaigns with the 49ers led the team to three consecutive NFC Championships, and reached the organization's first Super Bowl since 1994. Tomsula, after a year in which the team finished 5-11, was dismissed at the end of the season.
And it was Nolan's regime, including interim and short-term head coach Mike Singletary, that directly preceded Harbaugh.
San Francisco 49ers
"This is still a semi-talented football team," Nolan added. "They're not off the charts as far as some teams that are trying to get back.
"They could, with good offense and good defense, they could very likely get in the middle of that pack. And if nothing else, maybe fight for a Wild Card. But like I said, I think the big issues are going to be re-establishing that structure and the chemistry in that organization, as well as deciding on the quarterback to be.
"After what they've been through the last two years, that's exactly what (Kelly's) got to do, in my opinion. It's not about X's and O's, it's really going to be solely about how that head coach stands in front of that group and what they think."