Rarefied err: 49ers poised to join dubious group

ATLANTA -- The 49ers are closing in on a 1-15 season, a rarely achieved low in the NFL and one that ought to be automatic grounds for firing a head coach, right?

Well, usually but not always. Of the nine teams that have managed to go 1-15 since the league went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, five have fired their head coach during or after the season and three have given that coach a second chance. Rich Kotite, who led a one-win Jets team in 1996, resigned and was replaced by Bill Parcells, whose team went 9-7 the following year.

Chip Kelly needs a win in his last three tries to avoid that ignominious list and is at risk at joining a couple of even more exclusive ones. First, no 49ers team has…