Tomsula is your DC or no job offer

[WizardHawk]

Much of the article by Kawakami from the 15th was a follow up on his thoughts about Harbaugh's leaving of the 9'ers, but the last part of it is again causing some stirring in the media.

Kawakami: 49ers notes: More thoughts on the Harbaugh conversation, the snag that kept Gase from getting/taking the job, and more

I’ve written about this on Twitter but hadn’t gotten around to posting any of it online, so might as well do it now: There is a clear explanation for the weird and abrupt ending last month to the 49ers’ apparent pursuit of former Denver OC Adam Gase to replace Harbaugh.

When Baalke and Gase spoke for 7+ hours in Colorado a month ago, there were reports that Gase had an agreement in place with the 49ers to be their next head coach.

That didn’t happen–Baalke flew home, talks broke off, and Tomsula was hired very quickly after that.

There have been multiple, persistent reports, mostly from people close to Gase, that Gase was all but offered the 49ers job during that face-to-face with Baalke, except for a few details.

So how did this all blow up?

According to an NFL source, Gase and Baalke did indeed come very close to an agreement for Gase to replace Harbaugh, down to the details of his prospective coaching staff, and Gase understood that his choices for the coordinator spots were approved.

Tomsula’s name was not involved in the discussions with Gase about the defensive coordinator slot, I was told.

Then, the next morning, after Baalke flew back to the Bay Area, things changed: Gase, the source says, was informed that he could only have the job if he made Tomsula his defensive coordinator.

No Tomsula, no offer.

Gase turned that suggestion down flat, and that’s when the 49ers immediately tabbed Tomsula as the head coach to follow Harbaugh.

So when Tomsula tried hard to hire Gase as his offensive coordinator, the answer was no way–and Gase went to Chicago as the offensive coordinator.

What’s the significance of this? Beyond yet another 49ers’ coaching misstep, which, believe me, has been making the coaching rounds, this anecdote tells us that the 49ers were committed to Tomsula but not entirely sure how committed.

Then they got half-committed to Gase, but couldn’t make him the offer unless it was a Gase-Tomsula package deal.

When Gase opted out of that, the 49ers went with the guy they leaned towards all along: Tomsula.

So they really wanted to keep working toward Tomsula being their head coach, but recognized he likely needed more development and wanted Gase to take the helm and groom him and Gase said no way. I'm HC with my guys or not at all.

The more of this stuff that comes out, the more York looks entirely clueless and Baalke looks impotent. I mean you have Baalke all but approving the deal including Gase's choice of both coordinators and after he goes to talk to York about it everything changes.

I would be furious and frustrated as hell if this was my team.

It's hard enough to build a SB caliber team, but when you have an owner that seems to get in the way more than doing anything to help that cause it's just impossible to get to that level.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

All good teams start with ownership. Detroit for example had crap ownership for years. Washington is currently going through that ordeal with Snyder. Agree when an ownership gets too involved things go to crap. For some reason Jerry Jones has been able to establish some decent (and fairly good) teams over the years... but after his head inflated from the Super Bowls and he fired Jimmy... a lot of their good seasons have come on the backs of 'hitting home runs' on a LOT of draft picks/players.

Martin, Fredrick, Smith, Murray, Bryant, Lee, Williams, Ware, Newman - and then Romo as an undrafted.... they REALLY hit on a lot of picks and getting Romo was the cherry on the sundae. If that team didn't get lucky with Romo they're prob. a 5-11 routine team as well (like they were prior to Romo).

 

[WizardHawk]

You'd have to ask cowboy fans how much of Jerry Jones more active participation has helped or hindered their team over the years. I'd suspect it's some of both? . Al Davis was some of both with the earlier years maybe being better for them than his latter years.

I'm reminded by my 9'er friends around here that York's dad wasn't always helpful either.

I guess fans of teams that have owners that let their paid experts run the team and stay out of their way are lucky?

 

[Ties5o11]

As much as York and Baalke mishandled the entire situation over the last two years- and they really did F it up- lets put some perspective into it. Baalke deserves more credit than anyone for assembling the very strong 9ers roster the last number of seasons. Also, I think the roster is just as strong as it has been in the last 4-5 years, so if the turmoil dies down and Tomsula / Baalke / players can all co-exist, I think the 9ers may be the surprise team of next season.

But then again, I'm a giant homer, so take my words with a grain of salt.

 

[jdwills126]

The real stupid shit is Tomsula offered Gase his OC spot!

 

[49er_Rick]

As much as York and Baalke mishandled the entire situation over the last two years- and they really did F it up- lets put some perspective into it. Baalke deserves more credit than anyone for assembling the very strong 9ers roster the last number of seasons. Also, I think the roster is just as strong as it has been in the last 4-5 years, so if the turmoil dies down and Tomsula / Baalke / players can all co-exist, I think the 9ers may be the surprise team of next season.

But then again, I'm a giant homer, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Yes Baalke gets the credit for helping to assemble what might have been a Super Bowl Champ.... BUT He and York get the for not being capable of hiring a coach who can put and NFL caliber offense on the field. Say what you will about Harbaugh but he didn't get it done. Not one of the Yorks has done a good job of finding the right coach.

And to add insult to injury it looks like they simply went cheap this time.... Maybe Baalke wants to control things from the GM spot and Tomsula is his yes man. IDK.

Does it really matter.... even with all this talent the Niners won't be able to overcome bad coaching.

 

[flyerhawk]

It does seem to me that York really likes Tomsula and wanted him to be in place to be groomed. Not sure why they thought that Gase would be fine with that.