Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman competed against Chip Kelly while they were in the Pac-12 and again in the NFL, but they shared ideas after the former two were hired by the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers host the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday.

“(They’re) two guys I have great respect for,” said Kelly, the former Oregon coach, in a conference call Wednesday morning with Bay Area reporters.

“Greg has come up to visit when I was at Oregon and when they went to the 49ers. Obviously, when he was at Stanford and I was at Oregon, we didn’t share any notes on anything. But when they got to the League, Greg came up once and visited with us. And we shared ideas. And I had an opportunity during an open date when I was at Oregon in-season (2012) to go down and visit with those guys. Two guys I have great, great respect for -- two really good football coaches.”

The 49ers are using more wide receivers this season.

“They’re a little bit more exotic than they were even at Stanford,” Kelly said. “I think maybe because they have more time with their players, and they got smart players on the offensive side of the ball. I’ve had a lot of respect for Jimmy and Greg Roman going against them because they can scheme up the run game as good as anyone I’ve ever seen.”