The Philadelphia Eagles went on a full-scale Chip Kelly purge last week, trading and releasing a host of players Kelly had brought in during his tenure with the team. And yet, at least one notable Chip Kelly addition survived the turnover....
THE SMOOTHIE GUY!
In his most recent MMQB column, Peter King reported that the Eagles decided to keep "sports science czar" Shaun Huls on with the new coaching staff. Jenny Vrentas wrote extensively about Huls back in 2013.
The 49ers had previously looking into the world of sports science. During Jim Harbaugh's time with the team, they did extensive work with Stanford. More importantly, they brought in Fergus Connolly to serve as director of performance. Jim Tomsula had no interest in the sports science side of things, and from what I understand, Connolly's role ended with Tomsula taking over. Connolly has recently agreed to join the University of Michigan as their new director of performance.
This leaves the 49ers without that specific role. They have trainers and medical staff, but there is no word on if they have a forward-thinking sports science type of person on the staff. I have to think Kelly will bring in someone at some point, but there is no word yet on what that might entail.