Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff is starting to come together. The 49ers are reporting that Harbaugh has added Ed Donatell (defensive backs coach), Jim Leavitt (linebackers coach), and Geep Chryst (tight ends coach).
The hiring of Ed Donatell was reported at the Raiders press conference by new head Hue Jackson. Donatell was the secondary coach last year in Denver and prior to that was a defensive coordinator in Green Bay (2000-03) and Atlanta (2004-06).
Former USC assistant coach, John Morton will likely be taking over for Jerry Sullivan as the receivers coach. When at USC, Morton was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach on Lane Kiffin’s staff. Morton has worked with Harbaugh in the past at both the Oakland Raiders (2002-03) and University of San Diego (2005). At the Raiders Harbaugh was an offensive assistant and Morton worked as a “senior offensive assistant.”
ProFootballTalk first reported the 49ers interest in Jim Leavitt over a week ago and now he appears to be one of the newest additions. Jim Leavitt, most recently was the head coach of USF before he was fired for allegedly grabbing a players throat and then slapping him in the face. Leavitt declined those allegations and just recently settled out of court with USF for $2.75 million. It does not appear that he has any relationship with Harbaugh other than they were both in the college ranks. With the hiring of Leavitt, that would likely end the Jason Tarver era with the 49ers. He had quite a nice run with the 49ers as he has been an assistant since 2003.
One of Harbaugh’s most recent hires is Geep Chryst as tight ends coach. Chryst has been on the Carolina Panthers coaching staff as tight ends coach for the past four seasons. Chryst worked for both the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers when Harbaugh was a player.
It has not been made official but reports are that John Morton has been hired as the new wide receivers coach.
Former USC assistant coach, John Morton will likely be taking over for Jerry Sullivan as the receivers coach. When at USC, Morton was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach on Lane Kiffin’s staff. Morton has worked with Harbaugh in the past at both the Oakland Raiders (2002-03) and University of San Diego (2005). At the Raiders Harbaugh was an offensive assistant and Morton worked as a “senior offensive assistant.”
The 49ers coaching staff looks like this currently:
Head Coach – Jim Harbaugh
Offensive Coordinator – Greg Roman
Quarterbacks coach – none
Running Backs coach – Tom Rathman*
Wide receivers coach – John Morton
Tight ends coach – Geep Chryst
Offensive line coach – Mike Solari and Tim Drevno
Defensive coordinator – Vic Fangio
Defensive line – Jim Tomsula*
Linebackers coach – Jim Leavitt
Defensive backs – Ed Donatell
Special Teams coordinator – Brian Schottenheimer
*These hiring’s are not official but all indications are that Harbaugh wants them to return under their current roles.
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It didn’t take long for Mike Singletary to find a new job. Singletary confirmed on local radio in Chicago that he has accepted a position to be the linebackers coach on former teammate Leslie Frazier’s coaching staff. Both were part of the 1985 Chicago Bears that won the Super Bowl.
In his radio interview Singletary talked about his experiences as head coach with the 49ers and see’s this as an opportunity to move forward and get back to head coaching.
It sounds like he still plans to be the greatest head coach of all-time as he compared himself to Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll.
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