This is an interesting little development. Ronnie Lott was on KNBR this morning, and he said that Chip Kelly reached out to him recently to say he was welcome anytime at the San Francisco 49ers facility.
We've seen the occasional ex-49er on hand, with Charles Haley the most notable a year ago after he was voted into the Hall of Fame. However, there has always been a feeling in recent years that notable alumni were not really getting much time with the team. Lott said on KNBR that he never felt like he was not invited, but this was the first time in a while he has gotten a call saying as much.
Lott also mentioned that Kelly was not nearly as friendly at Oregon. Lott does some work for the Pac-12 Network, and Kelly told him at the time he was media and had to spend his time preparing for the games. However, with the 49ers, Lott is family, and is welcome.
It will be interesting to see if this kind of thing flies under the radar, because it's a definite positive. Kelly has shown he knows his football history, and given that, he has to know the 49ers history from the '80s features a ton of football knowledge. Kelly has said he wants different minds on his coaching staff to bring new ideas, so being able to talk to different former 49ers as well (in a non-coaching staff kind of way) is certainly valuable. It's good to see him reaching out already.