Already, the list of potential candidates for the 49ers’ general manager and head coaching positions are surfacing across all media platforms.
As Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday, the 49ers have been linked to such coaching candidates as Josh McDaniels, Kyle Shanahan and Anthony Lynn.
But the Niners are going to have to conduct these searches in the proper order. Any GM is going to want to pick the head coach. So before the franchise can sign any of those three – or others – it will have to get the right GM to steady this sinking ship and to ensure good communication and rapport for short- and long-term success.
Barrows reports the 49ers will have an interview Thursday in Green Bay, Wisc., with the Packers’ Eliot Wolf, the son of former Packers GM and Hall of Famer Ron Wolf. Eliot Wolf is the Packers’ director of football operations. Also to be interviewed, according to the NFL Network, is Brian Gutekunst, Green Bay’s director of player personnel.
Other reports have the 49ers requesting permission to interview Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio. The Seahawks’ co-directors of player personnel, Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer, also are reported to be candidates, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
There’s no doubt all of the candidates have points in their favor. But as the 49ers head into this process, patience and pedigree should be key factors in the decision-making process.
The 49ers have fallen into the NFL basement because of a series of bad decisions over the past few years. Poor drafts, the firing of head coach Jim Harbaugh and retirements and injuries – that showed how talent-thin this roster was – have left the franchise with holes everywhere. Getting the right people for the job and then giving them support, time and patience to do what they need to do will be key.
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With that in mind, Wolf and Gutekunst of the Packers emerge as models for what the 49ers might be seeking. A few years ago, the Raiders across the bay were where the 49ers are now, a mess. They needed both a head coach and GM.
They found Reggie McKenzie with the Packers, who was a disciple of Ron Wolf. McKenzie was known as a sharp personnel evaluator and steady personality who learned in an organization that has been a consistent winner, even while drafting from low positions in each round.
And, Wolf’s disciples have prospered as GMs across the league. Aside from McKenzie, Washington’s Scot McGloughan (formerly of the 49ers), Seattle’s John Schneider, Green Bay’s Ted Thompson and Kansas City’s John Dorsey all have their teams in this year’s NFL playoffs.
“For many of us, we only know one way of doing it, the Ron Wolf way,” Dorsey told Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback recently. “Many decisions we make here (with the Chiefs) are rooted in what I learned in Green Bay.”
Wolf believed in creating a home-grown roster, stockpiling quarterbacks, having patience to develop players and following a simple mantra, according to Emily Kaplan of Monday Morning Quarterback: “Identify what needs to be fixed, then go fix it.”
With that in mind, the two GM candidates from Green Bay would seem to have the right pedigree needed by the 49ers to turn the franchise back toward a winning track.
But, this process may take a while. It will be interesting to see which way CEO Jed York goes. He'll need to have patience to make the right choice, and then have the patience to let the new GM succeed.
