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When the 49ers used their first-round draft pick on DeForest Buckner, some saw it a sign of the influence of head coach Chip Kelly, who recruited Buckner to Oregon. But Kelly says the 49ers’ scouts were high on Buckner before Kelly was hired, and he believes the personnel department would have drafted Buckner no matter who became the 49ers’ head coach.

“It didn’t matter who was coaching the 49ers,” Kelly said on 95.7 The Game, via NinersNation.com. “And how much our personnel department loved DeForest, I think he would have been the first round draft pick [no matter who was] the head coach.”

Kelly said he made a specific point of not saying anything about Oregon players so as not to influence the scouting staff.

“When it came to players we recruited, I did not weigh in until the end,” Kelly said. “I thought it was important for the people in personnel to give their own opinion, and to talk about him. They were extremely high on him. He was on the top of the board whether I was here or wasn’t here. That just kinda tells you what kind of player and person is. No matter who it was, any team in this league would tell you that DeForest Buckner is a top 10 kind of draft pick, and certainly ended up being one.”

Now Kelly will coach him in San Francisco after recruiting him to Oregon.