The 49ers have some cards to play on offense when offered the offensive coordinator role. Who is the man you promote?
There are a few interviews coming out at the moment. 49ers passing game specialist Klint Kubiak is interviewing for the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator position, and running backs coach Brian Griese may also find himself interviewing for the offensive coordinator position. Adam Peters was hired as the new head coach of the Washington Commanders, which means that he (or his soon-to-be-hired head coach) could also come to the 49ers for someone to take care of that side of the ball.
As stated in the Black Monday tracker, the 49ers have a very unique card they can play. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan also serves as the team’s offensive coordinator. If the team wants to hire someone from his staff to the same position elsewhere, Shanahan can promote him from within. That happened to Mike McDaniel, but it was more of a promotion and didn’t necessarily stop him from being the offensive coordinator at the time.
Something to remember: The 49ers can’t effectively prevent assistants from interviewing for the coordinator position (advertisement). The rule was changed in 2020 to prevent this, as the 49ers of all teams did it regularly.
The 49ers can play this card again on offense if Griese or Kubiak get a chance. The 49ers could make a promotion that makes that person the offensive coordinator. The problem is that they can only do one ad. Many of you might say make them and everyone else in the league offensive coordinators, but that rarely works. In addition, it can only work for one year, because if you share the role of offensive coordinator, there is nothing to prevent the team from taking it on their own. Besides, if you have the opportunity to be the only offensive coach, why share it with someone else? Especially if you already have Shanahan’s fingerprints.
An assistant could still get an interview for the head coach in the second year, but it makes more sense to make him offensive coordinator in a promotion.
Obviously, these are all interviews at this point, but the 49ers may need to pull some stunts to get help. The problem is, there’s probably only one offensive contributor they can stick with. Which one would you take?
Griese has done his job as a QB whisperer, bringing Jimmy Garoppolo back into the fold in 2022 and making Brock Purdy a star this year and 2023. The 49ers have also gotten very creative with the passing game, which Kubiak can count on. Could it be this creativity that hits him when he leaves? Certainly not tanking, but Mike McDaniel’s departure was definitely felt in the running game when he was with the Miami Dolphins.
Who do you blame for your crime and why? Who is the man you must hold?.
