Head Coach Search Spotlight:
San Francisco 49ers
Jed York and Trent Baalke have gotten their wish and amicably split up with Jim Harbaugh and his three NFC Championship game appearances and the 49ers lone trip to the Superbowl in the last twenty years. This isn’t about performance on the field or if another coach can take the 49ers to that next level, instead the San Francisco faithful have to live with the fallout from a power struggle and battle of egos.
Even before the 2014 season began there were rumblings that the players and suits in the organization wanted Harbaugh out and immediately set the organization up for failure. It’s rather similar to the misstep that lead to the organizations eight years run of mediocrity.
In 2003 Steve Mariucci lost his battle with then Terry Donahue, who had just come into power in 2001. Although Mariucci himself is far from innocent after his pandering through the media and the debacle which led to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers landing Jon Gruden and their lone Superbowl Championship. After finishing first in the NFC West with a 10-6 record, Mariucci was shown the door and Terry Donahue would then tab Dennis Erickson as Head Coach of the 49ers starting that near decade of inferiority. Of course it didn’t help that his drafts were littered with first round busts like Mike Rumph, Kwame Harris and Rashaun Woods, but it was the ego clash that led to Erickson’s hire which led to the demise of a once proud franchise.
The subpar performance of the 49ers continued with Mike Nolan (2005-2008) and Mike Singletary (2008-2010) under General Manager Scot McClougahn. Why were the 49ers so bad over this period? Was it the players, or was it the coaching? In 2011 San Francisco was able to lure the then Stanford Head Coach to the NFL and Jim Harbaugh immediately turned their fortunes around and take them to three straight NFC Championship games, using many of the players McClougahn brought in through the draft and free agency. Trent Baalke was able to add to the personnel and the 49ers have been one of the most talented teams in the past five seasons.
Trent Baalke is one of the best talent evaluators in the NFL but now faces a move that can lead to his eventual downfall. Regardless of who is hired as the San Francisco 49ers Head Coach, there are great expectations to live up to. This is a Superbowl Championship caliber team, but it can easily be undone with the wrong coach and the wrong philosophy.
Playing It Safe
Do the 49ers play it safe and stick to the Harbaugh coaching tree and allow either Greg Roman or Vic Fangio to take over and allow a sense of continuation, or do they bring in a player’s coach like Jim Tomsula who has been a holdover since the Mike Nolan days . The chance for regression is high, especially with Trent Baalke’s finger prints ready to be all over this team with McCloughan’s acquisitions ready to leave the team like Justin Smith to retirement and Frank Gore to free agency. There will always be second guessing especially when you let go one of the best coaches at any level.
The smart move for this organization is to hire a Head Coach from within and ignore the fabrication of the media’s assertion that Mike Holgrem wants back in the coaching ranks. Is the right move to elevate former 49ers Interim Head Coach Jim Tomsula to a permanent position as the man?
It’s not like Tomsula doesn’t have the credentials, he has been the 49ers Defensive Line coach for the past eight seasons, and before that he was Head Coach of NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire, which he led to a 6-4 record. In 2010 he led the 49ers to a victory in his only appearance as interim Head Coach. In that one game they played inspired under Tomsula, and if he was hired on a full time basis they will play with a fire under them like they did for Jim Harbaugh even in a lost season.
Tomsula has an infectious personality and knows how to connect to his players he’s taken a long, strange journey to where he is, all the way from living in his car when he volunteered as an assistant at little Catawba College to NFL Europe and then San Francisco. He’s a humble players coach that would be popular inside the organization and with Jed York and Trent Baalke because you won’t have the kind of coach that you’ll butt heads with, especially one that would be greatful just for the chance. If he leaves the Xs and Os to Greg Roman and Vic Fangio he will stand a far better chance of being successful. Harbaugh successful? Doubtful, but the same can be said for any coach that comes from within the organization.
Boom Or Bust
Does going outside the organization make any sense? There is a high chance of failure if they do, but they might not be able to break through that ceiling if they don’t. A retread like Josh McDaniels would be a poor choice for the team, he’s been successful under a great coach twice, but if we know anything from that tree, it hasn’t produced another viable head coach in the NFL or at the College level. McDaniels might not have learned from his time in Denver either, he might be a little more humble in his second go as Head Coach, but he has the type of personality that would grate with Baalke much like Harbaugh.
Then there’s current Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase who will be the media darling and hot prospect this offseason. The biggest question surrounding him is how much he factors into the Denver offense if at all, or if it is all Peyton Manning. He’s a young coach and can offer a different insight to the offense but like Josh McDaniels will want to bring in his own staff. If Colin Kaepernick is to develop further he’ll need one of these young offensive gurus leading the way.
The Obvious
The choice is obvious for the 49ers organization, they need to hire a coach from within. Someone who knows the culture and is championed by the players, and tha someone is Jim Tomsula. Even if he can’t hit the heights of a Jim Harbaugh, he’ll be easy to work with and easy to fire. Expectations may be great, but the media and the fans won’t expect another three NFC Championship games or Superbowl trip, instead they’ll expect Jim Tomsula or Vic Fangio to not be Jim Harbraugh and just another example of egos mismanaging the 49ers franchise and that falls on Trent Baalke and Jed York.
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Originally Posted by schisno
