UCLA names Mike Johnson as new coordinator

On Friday, Jim Harbaugh announced his new coaching staff and Mike Johnson was not part of that staff.  But that’s okay because there was already speculation that he was going to be the offensive coordinator at UCLA, even though he was offered a job on Harbaugh’s staff. 

Now, two weeks later, UCLA has announced the hiring of Mike Johnson and the firing of current offensive coordinator Norm Chow.  Chow is expected to take the Utah offensive coordinator job which should be interesting since Utah will be part of the Pac-12 this year.

As well as the coordinator duties, Johnson will also be coaching the wide receivers while head coach Rick Neuheisel will take over coaching quarterbacks.

49ers Coaching Staff: Coaching Staff Complete

Today Jim Harbaugh met with the media to announce his official coaching staff. As expected Jim Tomsula (defensive line), Tom Rathman (running backs), Mike Solari (offensive line), and Ray Brown (offensive line) will all be retained. That makes three coaches for the offensive line but it should be noted that Brown will also help out on the tight ends as well. He will probably help with the blocking aspect of the tight end position.

Harbaugh also announced the most recent hire which was to replace Kurt Schottenheimer with Brad Seely as the special teams coordinator. Seely was in Cleveland the past two seasons in that same role. Harbaugh also added that they hired Ejiro Evero as the quality control coach. Last year Evero was with the Buccaneers as the defensive quality control coach. I imagine that is just a nice title and ultimately all they do is watch film.

Of course, Harbaugh was asked about Jed York’s conversation on KNBR as it relates to Alex Smith’s future with the 49ers. Harbaugh did not rule out Smith’s possible return but based on Alex’s no way in hell response at the end of the season, it is unlikely we will see Smith in a 49ers uniform again.

“I’m not into absolutes and ‘alwayses’ and ‘nevers — those kind of bold statements,” the coach said. “My part is an evaluation. And that will be of Alex and our football team. That’s the neat thing about being the head coach — you get to coach them all. You get to evaluate them and be a part of the team evaluation.”

49ers Coaching Staff - Harbaugh adds 3 more; Singletary gets new job

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.

49ers Coaching Staff: Jim Harbaugh adds Fangio, Drevno, and Roman

Earlier today we wrote that Jim Harbaugh was ready to add former Stanford assistant Greg Roman to his staff with the 49ers. Since that report, the 49ers have announced the addition of Greg Roman as well as two other former Stanford assistants. Both Vic Fangio (defensive coordinator) and Tim Drevno (offensive line) will join Harbaugh in Santa Clara. Drevno will be the offensive line coach and will share those duties with current offensive line coach Mike Solari.

The announcement of Fangio as the new defensive coordinator ends Greg Manusky’s time with the 49ers but he already has another job for the San Diego Chargers’ as their coordinator. Manusky worked for the Chargers in the past as their linebackers coach (2002-06) before he was hired by Mike Nolan to be the 49ers defensive coordinator.

Vic Fangio, like Greg Roman, has a lot of experience in the NFL. 2011 will be his 25th season coaching in the NFL of which 11 of them were as a defensive coordinator. He was a coordinator at Carolina (1995-98), Indianapolis (1999-2001), and most recently with the Houston Texans (2002-05).

Fangio will take over a defense that ranked 13th in the league but will continue to run the 3-4. He worked with Dom Capers when he was at Carolina and is known to be very aggressive much like Capers.

It is being reported that former Broncos assistant, Ed Donatell, will join Harbaugh’s staff as the defensive backs coach. 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).

Tim Drevno will join the 49ers and is set to be the co-offensive line coach with current offensive line coach, Mike Solari. Unlike the other assistants, Drevno has no NFL experience but has 18 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level.

Drevno has been with Stanford for the past four seasons (2006-10), the last two as the offensive line coach. Prior to joining Stanford he was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at the University of San Diego (2003-06). He also coached at Idaho (2000-02), San Jose State (1999), UNLV (1998), and Montana State (1993-97).

49ers Coaching Staff: Rumors Afloat of New Coaching Staff

Less than one week on the job and Jim Harbaugh has met with most of the assistants to discuss their future. Although, with the CBA in question, it could be a long time before the coaches actually coach the players Harbaugh is still getting a move on putting together his staff. Harbaugh has some options on his current staff that he may want to keep but all indications is that he told both of the current coordinators, Mike Johnson and Greg Manusky, that they are welcome to look for other coaching jobs because he would be looking elsewhere to fill their current roles.

Greg Manusky got his job search started off early last weekend when he interviewed for the Carolina Panthers’ head coaching job, which ultimately was given to Chargers’ defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. Manusky has also interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals and has an interview scheduled with the Dallas Cowboys to interview for defensive coordinator.

Manusky’s counterpart, Mike Johnson, has been busy looking for a job as well. According to BruinsNation.com, Mike Johnson has already found that new job as the new offensive coordinator for UCLA. Johnson was offered a job by Harbaugh to stay with the 49ers but it was not as the offensive coordinator. The report is very interesting since the current OC, Norm Chow, has not been fired but has reportedly agreed to a job with the Utah Utes.

There have been some rumors as to Harbaugh’s new assistants but nothing has been announced by the 49ers. It has been reported that Harbaugh is looking to bring both his offensive coordinator, David Shaw, and his defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, from Stanford to the 49ers. The 49ers is not Fangio’s only suitor though. According to Adam Schefter, Fangio has spoken to the Cowboys about their coordinator position and he is also thought to be in the running to replace Harbaugh at Stanford. David Shaw is also in the running to replace Harbaugh at Stanford.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee is reporting that former USF coach Jim Leavitt is being discussed as the new linebackers coach for the 49ers. Leavitt was fired last January for allegedly grabbing a player by the throat and then hitting him in the face. If Leavitt takes over as the linebackers coach that would likely leave current linebackers coach and longtime assistant Jason Tarver without a job. Tarver has been with the team since 2001 so I would assume that he could get another job with the team, maybe coaching another position.

I expect the 49ers to start offering the new assistants contracts and announcements by the team being made by the end of next week. I would think that Harbaugh would want his staff put together before the Senior Bowl.

Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh: The Search for a Quarterback

The San Francisco 49ers went after Jim Harbaugh to be their head coach because they were looking for someone with an offensive background. After having two defensive-minded head coaches and a failure at finding a franchise quarterback it was very much welcomed by fans.

Harbaugh has proven he has an innate ability to develop successful quarterbacks after having successes with Josh Johnson at University of San Diego and turning Andrew Luck into a first overall pick in the NFL draft, whenever he decides to leave Stanford. 

Jim Harbaugh also has a history of evaluating quarterbacks and being "spot-on" as to their future NFL success.  Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area reports that when Harbaugh was with the Raiders back in 2002 and 2003 he was evaluating the quarterbacks in the NFL draft and giving them pre-draft grades.  "Harbaugh placed a second-round grade on Tony Romo, who went undrafted. He had a higher grade on Jaguars fourth-round draft pick David Garrard, who has been a solid NFL starter the past four seasons. Harbaugh did not have a good grade on Joey Harrington, the third overall pick of the Lions in 2002" according to Maiocco.


The 49ers have a lot of room on their roster for quarterbacks with only one quarterback under contract for the 2011 season, whenever it comes. Currently David Carr is under contract through the 2011 season but it is unlikely that he will be viewed as anything other than a backup quarterback.

Nate Davis, a fan favorite, will also not be in the discussion after signing a future contract last week with the Seattle Seahawks. Davis is next in line of former 49ers to join the Seahawks where Scot McCloughan, former 49ers GM, has a front office position.

Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh will first look in the NFL draft for their starting quarterback and with the #7 selection they will have some choices. Whether they use that pick on a quarterback is up to Baalke, who now has full control of the 53-man roster. Baalke and Harbaugh will also likely look at free agency and the trade market for a starting quarterback but unlike previous years that period will likely be after the NFL draft, which might work out for the 49ers.

With no new CBA signed, teams cannot trade players or sign free agents until a new CBA is agreed upon. If the CBA is not signed before the NFL draft then free agency will start after the draft. The advantage for teams like the 49ers is they will be able to trade their draft picks for upcoming years without a team trying to capture this year’s draft pick. Say for example, the 49ers trade their first-rounder next year for a quarterback like Kevin Kolb. It is likely that Kolb will lead them to a better season than they had this year and therefore the Eagles would get a pick that was not as good as this year.

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49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis will be on the T.Ocho Show tonight on Versus. The show is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. (PST) and Davis will discuss the quarterback situation with former-49er Terrell Owens.

49ers Get Their Guy, Jim Harbaugh

Jed York and the San Francisco 49ers finally got their guy.

Jed York was attacked by the media through this entire process. A process that started earlier last week when York started the faux General Manager search which seemed to be a farce with a planned outcome of hiring Trent Baalke.

Although York said that the new general manager would be the one to hire the head coach, it was clear that Jim Harbaugh was the target from the beginning. During York’s general manager search York was looking for a general manager that had connections to Harbaugh so he could make sure to get him and that is why both Michael Lombardi and Trent Baalke were the finalists for the general manager job.

Now it doesn’t matter if the Trent Baalke hiring was a staged act with the leading actor being Jed York because he delivered the golden prize, Jim Harbaugh. After a five-day chase of Harbaugh where the 49ers were competing with two other NFL teams and two college teams it turned out that the 49ers were Harbaugh’s choice.

At one point, it seemed like the 49ers were out of it as the Miami Dolphins flew cross-country and reportedly were ready to offer upwards of $8 million a year for him to be their head coach. Whether that is true is another story as it would open them up for a fine from the league but they dropped out of the Harbaugh sweepstakes late Thursday night. After they dropped out of the chase it was between Stanford and the 49ers and most reports saying that he would go back to Stanford.

Then at 12:36 on Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Jim Harbaugh had agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

Jim Harbaugh gives the 49ers a coach from is well versed in the West Coast Offense for the first time since Steve Mariucci was the coach. Harbaugh has already said that he will be running the WCO to much jubilation of former 49ers and fans.

His first act as head coach will be to find a quarterback. As it stands now David Carr is the only quarterback that is under contract for 2011.

Harbaugh has a good record when it comes to developing quarterbacks. When he was at the University of San Diego he developed Josh Johnson, who is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and when he was at Stanford he developed quite the player in Andrew Luck. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

The 49ers have the #7 pick in the upcoming NFL draft and will possibly have the option to draft Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, Washington’s Jack Locker, Auburn’s Cam Newton, or Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet.

Source: Dolphins Passing on Jim Harbaugh

24 hours after flying on a private jet to San Jose to meet Jim Harbaugh, the Miami Dolphins have decided to quit pursuing Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach. Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting that the Dolphins have decided to keep Tony Sparano as their head coach for the immediate future.

It is a very interesting turn of events with all the reports that Dolphins owner, Steve Ross, was ready to make Harbaugh the highest paid coach in the NFL. It makes me wonder if Harbaugh had told Ross that he was not interested in moving to Miami and preferred to stay in the bay area.

Either way it is good news for the San Francisco 49ers and their fans as it would appear they are back in the hunt. Jim Harbaugh is reportedly pondering the 49ers offer along with the offer he received from Stanford. There is definitely an allure to go back to Stanford and to try and win a national championship now that Andrew Luck has decided to go back to Palo Alto.

According to Jay Glazer, Harbaugh is working with the 49ers to get a deal done tonight at a salary of $6 million a year.

Andrew Luck coming back to Stanford; Harbaugh is still undecided

I wrote earlier today how the Carolina Panthers were ready to draft Andrew Luck. If only I would have waited a few hours before I posted that post then I would not have had to write this entry.

The Carolina Panthers were probably all set for the first round of the NFL Draft. They finally were going to get the quarterback they have been looking for since the demise of Jake Delhomme. Funny thing happened on the way to the draft.

Andrew Luck said no thanks in a one sentence statement.

“I am committed to earning my degree in architectural design from Stanford University and am on track to accomplish this at the completion of the spring quarter of 2012,” he said.

Luck announced his return to Stanford on a day where the head coach of Stanford has been the sports story of the day.

Jim Harbaugh, the current head coach of Stanford, is being courted to the NFL by three teams.

The courting first started last night when he met with the San Francisco 49ers brass for at an undisclosed location. The 49ers reportedly offered Harbaugh a contract worth about $6 million annually.

Then the Miami Dolphins got involved. Dolphins’ owner and former Michigan Wolverine, Steve Ross, jumped on a private jet with Miami executives Jeff Ireland and Carl Peterson to come out and visit with Harbaugh today and reportedly offer him the largest contract that a NFL head coach has ever received.

But the courtship did not end there.

Former Stanford Cardinal quarterback and Super Bowl Champion, John Elway, is now a top executive for the Denver Broncos and they are interested in Harbaugh. No word if a meeting has been scheduled with the Broncos or if Harbaugh is interested but it is likely he will meet with the team “out of courtesy.”

It is not known whether the return of Andrew Luck to Stanford will make a change in Harbaugh’s decision to leave to the NFL but all indications is that he is open to it. According to Scott Reiss of CSN Bay Area, Harbaugh met with the Stanford president to hear their offer.

Raiders let go Tom Cable

While the San Francisco 49ers were hiring their new general manager and trying to chase down Jim Harbaugh the Oakland Raiders were doing their best to stay atop Bay Area news.  In what seemed to be directly tied to the 49ers request to interview Hue Jackson, Al Davis decided to not pick up Tom Cable’s contract option which subsequently left him without a job.

Most people thought the firing of Tom Cable meant that offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was going to be made the new head coach.  That move would have screwed the 49ers as they were likely looking to interview Hue Jackson to help meet their “Rooney rule” expectation.

The Raiders have countered the report that Hue Jackson will be promoted and have not made an announcement of who the new head coach will be. 

After finding out about Cable’s departure, pro-bowl punter Shane Lechler let it be known that he is not in favor of the move.

“I’m not so sure this isn’t a terrible decision,” Lechler said.

According to ProFootballTalk, Lechler has tried to call Al Davis and other Raiders executives but as is expected they are not taking his calls.

The Raiders will now start their coaching search which will likely include looking at Hue Jackson along with other top assistants in the league.  Jim Harbaugh is also a possibility as he has a good relationship with Al Davis but it is unlikely that he would be willing to pay the $7 million per year that will be necessary to get Harbaugh.

49ers Executives Meeting with Jim Harbaugh

By now you have heard that Trent Baalke has been hired as the new General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers. President Jed York has made his first act as the new GM to find a new head coach.

Hmmm…I wonder who that could possibly be.

I guess Hue Jackson, the Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator, and Perry Fewell, the New York Giants defensive coordinator, are possibilities since the 49ers requested permission to interview both gentlemen. In fact, the San Francisco 49ers interviewed Jackson today for a few hours and reportedly went very well.

But there’s got to be someone else.

I did hear a report that the 49ers were supposed to meet with a college coach from Stanford but that never works out. College coaches usually are not successful in the NFL and especially guys from Stanford.

All kidding aside, unless you live under a rock then you know that Jed York and newly named General Manager Trent Baalke have been meeting with Jim Harbaugh for a few hours today at an unnamed location. Based on the length that this “meeting” has been going on it appears it is more than just an interview.

Although both the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins are interested in Harbaugh’s services it has been said that he would prefer to stay local. Harbaugh and his wife just recently had a baby and she is said to want to stay in the bay area.

If Harbaugh does accept the job with the 49ers he will likely get a lot of power and have control of the 52-man roster much like his predecessors. His first act will to find a quarterback for next season, whenever that happens. As of today the 49ers only have one quarterback signed for next year, David Carr.

As the Harbaugh Turns

Since Jed York started the interviewing process for the new General Manager the speculation has been that it was Trent Baalke’s job to lose. Many of the NFL biggest reporters like ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora has suggested that Baalke would be named the GM within days of the York’s announcement that he was looking for a new GM. Even NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said, after interviewing for the job with Jed York, that Baalke would be named the new GM within 48 hours and that report was a week ago.

Trent Baalke was interviewed on Saturday by Jed York for the General Manager position and reportedly was expected to sign the contract then. That did not happen but all indications are that it is still his job to lose.

Well, he may have lost it.

Earlier today the speculation was that Jed York was not only looking for a GM that was the right fit for the job but a GM that could deliver Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. ProFootballTalk reported today that Harbaugh is not interested in the 49ers job with Trent Baalke as the GM and according to a source Harbaugh would rather work with Michael Lombardi.

Then Matt Maiocco of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reported that Jed York interviewed a candidate in person, which was possibly Lombardi.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the decision is likely to come Wednesday after York interviews one more candidate. He also reported that York interviewed a few candidates today on the phone.

It seems that whichever executive/GM can get Harbaugh then they will have the job. Although York said it would be the GM who chose the head coach, it seems that he very much wants Harbaugh and will hire whatever GM that Harbaugh wants.

Harbaugh and Luck not discussing future

There’s a lot of speculation that this may be the last year at Stanford for both Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck with the NFL calling both of their names. Harbaugh suitors are said to be the San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, and possibly Miami Dolphins while Luck will undoubtedly be the #1 pick in the NFL draft if he chooses to enter.

Both Harbaugh and Luck have not given any hints as to their plans though. They both have ignored the topic as much as possible and have put most of their focus towards the Orange Bowl.

Luck has done his best to avoid the questions but had this to say to the media:

"I've tried not to think about my future until after this football game," he said. "I don't want it to get in the way of the team, of our chances in the Orange Bowl. I think if I start thinking about it too much, it'll be a detriment and my head will be in the wrong place. ... So it hasn't been too difficult. Just excited to be in the Orange Bowl and trying not to let anything get in the way of it."

Mercury News' Jon Wilner talked with Harbaugh asked him about his future of possibly going to the NFL:

"I only talk about the job I have now."

Harbaugh was also asked when he would make a decision on his future:

"I don’t want to put a timeline on it."