SANTA CLARA – After employing two consecutive one-and-done head coaches, 49ers CEO Jed York is taking a greater role in hiring the team's next coach and general manager.
Just three weeks ago, 49ers co-chair John York was forced to refute a report he and Denise DeBartolo York were going to strip power away from their son. In fact, it appears to be just the opposite.
In the past, it was general manager Trent Baalke's decision on whom to hire as head coach. York was involved in the process, but the ultimate call belonged to Baalke, who was responsible for hiring Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula over Adam Gase and Chip Kelly.
"Ultimately, the decision will rest with me," York said on Monday. "I will look at people inside the building and continue to consult people outside of the building -- folks that I trust, folks that are very well respected. But our system and our structure is going to be a head coach and a general manager and ultimately that decision will rest with me."
Jed York and Paraag Marathe, the team's chief strategy officer and executive vice president of football operations, have already started the search for a coach and general manager.
"Paraag will be with me in the interviews," York said. "We've certainly done research together and will be moving forward."
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The 49ers have an interview scheduled for coaching candidate Kyle Shanahan, Atlanta's offensive coordinator, for Friday, a source told CSNBayArea.com. New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Anthony Lynn, who concluded the season as Buffalo's interim head coach, are expected to interview this week, too.
Green Bay personnel executives Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst are lined up to interview for the general manager position this week, a source confirmed.
York said he is considering no inside candidates, including assistant general manager Tom Gable, for the position.
"Tom is a very loyal employee," York said. "I think he's one of the unsung heroes in sort of the scouting world and the professional world in the NFL. I have a ton of respect for Tom Gamble. But I think it's time that we have two new people at the helm from the general manager and the head coach perspective."
The 49ers have not looked outside the organization to fill the coach and general manager positions since 2005. Jed York joined the 49ers organization that year while his father still ran the day-to-day operations. Jed York sat in on interviews during the process that concluded with the hiring of coach Mike Nolan.
The 49ers have parted ways with three head coaches in three years. Now, the general manager is out the door. York sloughed off a suggestion that he should lose his job, too.
"I own this football team," York said. "You don't dismiss owners.
"I'm sorry, but that's the fact. And I'm going to do everything that I can to get this right. This isn't about a business and running an operation to make money. We're making sure that we're doing everything that we can to reestablish this culture."
