Jed York: “We want a leader.”

SANTA CLARA

This is the transcript of Jed York’s 2015 postmortem press conference, courtesy of the 49ers P.R. department.

 

Opening comments:

“Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be able to address the fans directly today. I’d like to thank everybody for tuning in, but more importantly before we begin, I want to make sure that I thank the fans for their support, especially during a difficult season like this. I’d also like to thank the media for being here today in person. I know that it wasn’t easy to get everybody together and all the traffic around the stadium with the Super Bowl preparations, so I appreciate you being here today. This season was frustrating on a number of levels. We took a step back from our ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl. For that, I want to apologize to our fans and for everybody that cares deeply about this team the way I do. I hear the criticism, loudly. Whether that’s talking to fans directly, whether that’s social media or from planes flying over my head. The results of this season rest on my shoulders squarely. It wasn’t good enough. I want you to understand that we’re going to do everything that we can and we’re working hard right now to put the pieces in place to get this team back to where it belongs. I think everybody is aware that we released Jim Tomsula last night. Jimmy T has been a part of this organization for a long time. I’ve watched him develop undrafted free agents into bona-fide pros. I’ve watched him get the most out of first round talent. He kept this team together and this locker room together this season under very difficult circumstances. For all of that, I thank him and I appreciate his efforts. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this team improve collectively from the beginning of the season to the end. That’s what ultimately led to this decision. I wish Jimmy and Julie and their three kids all the best moving forward and wherever Jimmy ends up next season, they should know that they are getting a heck-of-a person and a heck-of-a football coach. [49ers general manager] Trent Baalke will remain the general manager of the 49ers. Trent understands that I’m not satisfied with the current state of this team. Trent’s role is to find the next head coach and continue to build this roster and get us back to championship form. Trent has the skills to do this and get this done. He’s built championship rosters in the past. He’s got the respect of folks around the league and his peers. And, Trent knows that he and his staff are going to have all the resources available, at their disposal, to make sure that we get this job right. I’ve said it before and I think it bears repeating today, I understand my role as owner of the San Francisco 49ers. I need to make sure that I find the best football people and give them all the resources that they need to win championships. A championship caliber mentality was engrained in me from a very early age. Whether that was my grandfather and his success in business, whether that was my uncle and everything that he accomplished here with the San Francisco 49ers or my mother and what she accomplished at the Pittsburgh Penguins. I believe in winning championships. I realize that my expectations seem unachievable. I harken back to my grandfather, spending a lot of time with him, and he loved [former NFL head coach] Vince Lombardi. And I don’t know that I’ll get the quote right, but Vince always talked about, ‘We can’t obtain perfection, but if we strive for perfection, we can catch excellence.’ I believe in that. I believe in chasing perfection. From a personal experience, I learned a lot from 2015. A season like this ages you. I think I lost a little bit more hair. Beyond that, I was able to recognize mistakes that I’ve made in the past. Even looking over the last few seasons, I think it’s important to learn and to grow from your mistakes. I think I understand what the fans want. They want a team that they can be proud of on Sundays. They want a championship team. I want that too and I’m fighting for that. You can trust me that we are going to do everything that we can to get this team back where it belongs. And before we turn to 2016, I realize that 2015 wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. I don’t take the fan’s support lightly. I understand how much passion that you have for this team and even if it’s in the form of criticism of me, I respect it and you deserve more and you’re going to get more. I want this team to win. Nobody wants this team to win more than I do and I’m going to work at it every day to make sure that we get back to where we belong. I’m happy to take any questions that the media has.”

 

You said that the results of this season rest squarely on your shoulders.

“They do.”

 

Let’s be specific. As you look back, was it a mistake to part with former 49ers and current University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh and in addition was it a mistake to hire Jim Tomsula as his successor?

“Jim Harbaugh is a good football coach. His success at Michigan doesn’t surprise me at all. We need to make sure that we look forward to the next head coach. In terms of Jimmy T, we took a chance on somebody that we believe strongly in, certainly his character, his leadership ability, what he was able to do. And ultimately that didn’t work out. And I feel like watching what my uncle did, watching what my grandfather did, you have to learn from mistakes. You have to learn from failure. And we didn’t get this one right and we need to make sure that we get the next one right and we need to make sure that we learn from this season.”

 

If you didn’t get this one right and Trent is going to hire the next coach, what makes you think that the next one will be right? I assume that you’re not going to be bringing anyone else in the decision making process?

“I mean, Trent’s staff will be in part of it. But, it will be Trent leading the process.”

 

Wait, can you answer that though, follow-up? Why are you confident that he’ll make the right decision this time?

“I mean, I think he’s done it in the past and I think he can do it again.”

 

The Cleveland Browns have hired a search firm to help them with the coach. Have you considered doing that given the situation or not?

“I talked to my uncle this morning for a while. He texted me around 5:15. I called him around 5:20 when I got up and I don’t think there’s anybody better to help me as a mentor, as somebody that’s been there, as somebody that’s done it than my uncle. We talked for a long time this morning. And I know that if I need direction, if I need guidance, if I need somebody to help, I’ve got a person I think is the best owner in the history of sports that’s on my team, that’s on my side, that I can turn to anytime.”

 

ME: What mistakes did you learn from during the past year?

“I’d say the biggest thing, I think I’ve taken things too personally. Interactions with the media, some of the criticism from fans, I think I’ve internalized that too much and I’ve taken it too personally. I think I’ve done things and we can get into tweets that I’ve sent and thank god you can’t see tweets that I didn’t send. Those things aren’t helpful for the team. As much as I’d like to share how I feel about the team, it’s not helpful for our club for me to talk about how I feel when we win, how I feel when we lose. It’s ultimately a distraction. It’s hard enough to win football games in the National Football League. It’s harder when you have somebody that tweets something that’s a distraction to the club and I can’t do that. I think you’ve seen me take a step back from twitter and from other social media and I think it’s important for our team and that it’s important for our fans to have a good clear communication with the club. But, I’m emotional. I learned that from my uncle. Both of us put holes in walls. Both of us have screamed and yelled and said things that we wish we could take back. Some behind the scenes, sometimes in front of the public and I can’t be a distraction to this team. The world is so much different today than I think when my uncle ran the team. It’s not a one-day news cycle. It’s a 24-hour, literally a second-by-second news cycle and I can’t add to that.”

 

Do you have a short list of who you want as coach moving forward? Is there a short list?

“We have a clear understanding of what we want. We want a leader. We want somebody that has a clear strategic vision. We definitely have a short list. This is going to be a very, very competitive offseason, so I hope you understand I’m not going to get into the details of that list. But, we have a clear understanding of what we’re looking for.”

 

Is an offensive mind a part of that priority?

“Again, I don’t want to tip our hand in terms of where we’re going. It’s going to be a very competitive offseason. You can certainly speculate however you would like on that, but I don’t want to get into specifics in terms of what we’re looking for.”

 

Do you think that the roster was the biggest issue on this team, maybe not coaching, that this is not a very good roster? So, the guy who has put this roster together is remaining in charge of it? I guess probably a lot of fans want to know why that is?

“I’ve seen Trent build a championship-caliber roster. As his time as director of player personnel, as his time as general manager, I believe in Trent’s ability. We have a lot of opportunity in front of us. I don’t know exactly where we stack in cap room, but I think we’re top-five in the league in cap room today. We’ve got the most draft picks. I’m fairly certain that it’s set that we are picking seventh. I don’t know, you guys give me nod that is correct. So, we are picking seventh for sure. I’ve watched Trent build this roster and I have confidence that he can get it done. There are very few general managers that have built championship-caliber rosters and I think it’s important that we have somebody with that experience and having a good staff around him, like [senior personnel executive] Tommy Gamble, like guys like that that have been there and done it that we can continue to build this thing because this is going to be a very important offseason for us. Again, we haven’t been the most active in free agency in years past. We need to figure out what the right talent is outside of this building, what the right talent is inside of this building and make sure that we knock it out of the park this year in the draft.”

 

You said Trent has a very clear understanding that the roster is not, the team is not where it needs to be. Does that mean Trent is on the clock as it were or on a job-security watch?

“Trent’s our general manager. We need to make sure that we go together and find the next head coach. We then make sure that that fit is there and works together and they’re going to be working together to build this team back to championship caliber.”

 

The previous four years you had a very successful head coach. Looking back on it, do you regret not making a bigger effort to keep Jim here as your head coach?

“I think it’s well understood what effort that we made to keep him here. I’m not going to dive into that. I’m not going to get into things that happened behind the scenes and I can’t look backwards. We can’t win games that we’ve already played. We can’t undo decisions that have been made. We need to make sure that all of our effort is focused on the next head coach of the team.”

 

Do you have a time in mind as to when you would like a coach in place?

“There’s not a specific timeframe. We want to make sure that we identify our candidates and go after them and when the time’s right, we’ll make an announcement.”

 

Trent has complete, 100-percent control over the roster. Now, if a new head coach comes in and wants that, will that be something Trent has to work out with that?

“I think it’s got to be something that those two work together on. It’s very clear you can’t have one person have 100-percent say and not have input from the other. You need to make sure that there’s a great relationship between your head coach and your general manager and they need to sit down and figure out how do we evaluate the roster together and how do we make sure that we continue to improve this team.”

 

Your last two coaching hires were very different personality-wise. Jim Harbaugh, huge fish that had a big resume of winning as a head coach. The next hire was a name who had never been a coordinator much less an NFL Europe head coach. Two disparate personalities. Two disparate results. Can you tell us, is there a description for the next head coach? Is it a big fish with an NFL head coaching experience resume?

“Again, this is going to be a very competitive offseason. I’m not going to get into specifics on where we are and what we’re looking for. You can certainly speculate all you would like, but I’m not going to get into that right now. Again, we want somebody that has leadership ability and a clear vision of what the San Francisco 49ers are and a clear vision on how to get us back to a championship caliber.”

 

With an experienced resume?

“Again, I think we’re not going to get into the specifics of what we’re looking for. There’s a lot of teams that are looking for a coach. I don’t want to tip our hand and give away any information that I think shouldn’t be divulged right now.”

 

You’ve spoken about holding yourself accountable. What was the timing for today and not speaking up to this point? Was it just get through this season and–?

“No. I think more than anything, with not speaking, I don’t want to be a distraction. I think our head coach needs to be the face of this team on a normal basis in terms of dealing with the media. I try to interact with fans as much as I can on social media. I’m going to continue to do that, but I want to do that in a way that doesn’t distract from the team. So, as much as I’m sure you love hearing from me and having me up here, that’s not my role and it’s not my role to sit and tweet all of my feelings and things like that because you just can’t share everything completely and I think if you can’t share everything completely, which I’m just not able to do in my position, I don’t think it’s the best thing for our team. I think you have to be very careful about how you communicate with fans and make sure that everything that I’m doing is letting our football people build this team and letting our fans be proud of what team is on the field.”

 

Where is this organization right now compared to where you were a year ago at this time?

“Again, I’m not a football expert. So, I’m not going to get into evaluating the roster. I think we have some good young talent. I think we have some pieces that are there. But, we need to continue to grow. We need to continue to improve and I’m glad that we have a lot of ammunition this offseason to be able to continue to build it.”

 

Are you further away from where you wanted to be?

“8-8 and 5-11, neither one of them is acceptable to me. I’d rather take a swing like we did on Jimmy T and if you miss, the nice thing about the NFL is they reward you for missing. We have a high draft pick and that’s the thing that I don’t want to be drafting high, but if we don’t compete for championships, I’d much rather be drafting high and be able to add the top-tier talent in the draft to this roster. So, that’s where we are today. It’s not good enough. Trent understands it’s not good enough and we need to continue to add talent to this roster and make sure that we can compete for championships.”

 

Will the new head coach be able to pick his entire staff?

“Yes, and that’s always been the case here.”

 

Your tone obviously is far different than it was a year ago. Is it fair to say you’ve been humbled by this season?

“Yeah, absolutely. And I don’t think it’s just this season. I think it’s a collective approach and looking back on being in this role. The world is different than when my uncle was in this role. We were about the same age when we started running the team and I think you need to adapt as the world adapts. I think I’ve learned a lot. This season wasn’t fun. It wasn’t fun for me, it certainly wasn’t fun for the fans and I truly am sorry that we had to go through this year. But, you have my word that I’m going to do everything that we can to get this team back.”

 

Can you talk about why president Paraag Marathe was reassigned and what his role will be in the organization moving forward?

“Yeah. So, we had talked to our staff well before the season started and I think our staff saw that [COO] Al [Guido] was taking on more of a role in terms of business ops. As my family looks at other things that we’re doing, Paraag has been somebody that’s been an advisor to me and somebody that’s worked with me for a long time. So, Paraag and I will be doing things that are outside of the 49ers. His role in terms of football will not change. He’s going to negotiate salaries and negotiate contracts and he’ll be in charge of the salary cap and he’ll be working within the organization the same as he always has.”

 

A follow up on that. There’s been steady rumors that you are interested in selling the team, that your family is interested in selling the team. Have you? Are you in the process of? Will you sell the 49ers?

“My family’s owned this team since before I was born and they’ll own this team after I’m gone.”

 

You follow social media. Did you happen to see what Jim Harbaugh tweeted out yesterday?

“Yeah. I’m definitely aware of it, but I can’t focus myself on things that are outside of our head coaching search right now.”

 

What do you think is the future for QB Colin Kaepernick? What’s your feeling on that?

“I love Colin. He’s been a great piece of this team for a long time. He has certainly helped us get to the level of success that we’ve had. I’m not going to make any decisions on players. A new head coach is going to come in here. He’s going to evaluate the roster. Right now, I want to make sure that Colin gets back healthy. We have a few guys that have been hurt. I want to make sure that he continues to improve. It was great seeing him and seeing a lot of other guys yesterday. The roster will be left up to the head coach and the general manager.”

 

What did your uncle tell you this morning?

“I’ll leave profanities out. Ultimately, it’s continue to work and get this team where you want it to be. Even if you have a bad season, don’t settle. There’s a lot of things that you can do to tweak a roster to go from 5-11 to 9-7. But, you’re never going to break through that barrier. I think that’s always been the message of my family. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to fail. Continue to push for what you want to push for for your ultimate goal. I think those are the messages that he’s consistently sent.”

 

I’m just curious if you feel that because of what’s happened, both before you hired Harbaugh and since the way that relationship devolved, all the others things, that this might be a tough sell for an experienced, high-powered coach, qualified coach, that they might not be interested in coming to work here?

“I’m not concerned about that.”

 

You said you have a short list. Is that something that you want to act quickly on because you said it’s going to be competitive and is it something, are you going to share with the public who you’re bringing in because other teams will announce who they’re bringing in for interviews?

“I think information, whether it’s coming from agents or from people, we will try to keep this as close to the vest as possible. I don’t want to tip our hand to everyone else that’s looking for a head coach. I think we want to make sure that we have a clear communication with our fans, but I don’t want to do anything that’s going to potentially put us at a disadvantage for hiring the next head coach.”

 

Last year at this time there was concerns about leaks all over the building and Sunday morning Pro Football Talk had it at five in the morning that Jim Tomsula would be fired. Are we back to square one where you’re concerned about leaks in the building?

“Having things come out of the building and having the leaks like that that are harmful to the team, harmful to Jimmy T, somebody that’s been here for a long time, harmful to our players, harmful to our fans, that’s not in my best interest. That didn’t come from this organization. You’re going to have lots of speculation around this time of the year. And you guys are well aware that there’s speculation and people that you think are going to get fired or not thinking are going to get fired. We have no interest in leaking information out of this building. If I find people that are leaking information, they are not going to be a part of this team.”

 

The second one is, you said in your opening statement that you hear the criticism loudly. So, we might as well air it out that the harshest criticism is that you guys built this stadium on the backs of Jim Harbaugh’s wins, sold the corporate suites, jacked up the value of the franchise, tripled it and now don’t really care that much about anything else other than the money. And the evidence would be that you paid Jim Tomsula one of the lowest salaries in the league and you left a lot of money under the cap. So, how would you address that criticism that fans consistently bring to us in the media?

“I would say this; we’ve got several years of Jimmy T’s salary left and we’re going to eat it. Whether he’s coaching somewhere else or not, we owe him that. That’s not a concern. I could have easily come out here and said, ‘Hey we had a lot of injuries this year. A lot of things didn’t go our way. We’re going to stick with this.’ That’s not where we are. We’re willing to spend what it takes to get everything right to get back to a championship culture. In terms of salary cap, just because you have room doesn’t mean that you have to spend the room. You can transfer that room over to this year. We’ve got a lot of salary cap room. So, you can’t just spend money to spend money. You want to make sure that you’re spending money wisely. So, we will always continue to manage the cap. Trent and his staff know that if they need to spend the entire room, they can do it. If they need to roll it over, they can do it and we will do what it takes to get back to a championship level.”

 

This is not a 49ers question, but it’s an important Bay Area football question. You’ve got an owners meeting coming up next week at which the future of the LA market is going to be debated and the Raiders are involved in that. What is the 49ers and your stance on that? How will you vote in that and what do you feel about the Raiders future, perhaps involving this stadium even?

“I don’t want to speak for [Oakland Raiders owner] Mark Davis or for anybody else and I’ll leave their future and what they’re looking at to them. I’m not going to speculate on that. Obviously LA is front of mind for the National Football League right now. I’m on the stadium committee, so I will certainly be in committee meetings this week. I have to make sure that all the information that’s out there we figure out is there a reason for teams to relocate and if so what are the best teams and the best projects to move to Los Angeles. And there is a lot of information to get through. I certainly haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t want to speculate on to where I think it’s going to go, but I think it’s important first and foremost that we were in an old stadium. Just going from my point of view, we did everything that we could to stay first in San Francisco and if that wasn’t possible absolutely in the Bay Area. I think it’s vitally important that the National Football League, that we do everything that we can to stay in markets that we’re in. And if it’s proven that we can’t stay there and the markets aren’t viable or if there’s a reason to leave, we need to make sure that if we go back into a market such as Los Angeles, the second largest market in the country, we do it the right way and we do it where it’s not going to be like it was before where you had two teams there that ended up leaving in, I can’t remember the year but I think it was the early to mid-90s. You need to make sure that if you’re going to go back you’re there to stay. This is not going to be an easy decision.”

 

Do you think a team should be playing in LA next year? Would you be in favor of that?

“In general, I’m in favor of teams being in markets that work. And, if you can prove that Los Angeles works and that the existing markets are tough and they’re not workable for long-term stadium deals, then I think you have to do what’s best for the overall league. But, you have to exhaust every effort possible to make sure that teams are staying in their own markets.”

 

There are some big names that have reached out on the market for coaches. Did anyone reach out to you, like former NFL head coaches Mike Holmgren or Chip Kelly? Their names have been floating around for days now.

“Again, you guys have been here before. There’s going to be a lot of rumors until all the coaching vacancies are filled. I’m not going to get into who has reached out and what those conversations have been. I want to make sure that everything that we do is focused on working our list and making sure that we do everything that we can to get the next head coach in here.”

 

Do you wish you hired Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase last year?

“I’m not looking back at anything. You can’t undo those decisions. I’m looking forward.”

 

And has the entire coaching staff, have they all been released?

“So, only Jimmy has been released. The new head coach will be evaluating the staff and it will be up to him to decide if he wants to keep folks. And if not, as we’ve told our guys, if you have something, we’ll certainly listen to it. But, it’s hard to put a staff together. I think we have some good coaches on this staff and I want to make sure that our head coach has every opportunity to evaluate the guys that are here and make sure that he has all of the resources and everything that he needs to hire whoever else he wants to bring in.”

 

Another big picture question. We only get these like once a year, so we’ve got ask the big, big ones, the macros. The perception was that Jim Harbaugh was extremely difficult to get along with and that was a large reason why you guys parted ways, that you personally did not like him or get along with him, that Jim Tomsula was the easiest guy in the world to get along with and that’s why you hired him. Can you address that issue? Every owner, every team has the personality of its owner. Are you in need of somebody who you’re comfortable with, who makes you feel good when you’re in a room with them?

“We’re in need of somebody that can win Super Bowls.”

 

So, personality doesn’t matter?

“We’re in need of somebody that can win Super Bowls.”

 

Didn’t you have that guy?

“We haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1994.”

This article has 140 Comments

  1. 12 years of futility is enough proof for me. Until I’m shown that Harbaugh was not used to ram a stadium through Santa Clara politics, I’ll only believe the York’s are passionate about one thing: MONEY!

    Q: What type of coach are you looking for?

    A: Jed: We want a leader.

    Fan’s, this sounds a little to insincere, eerily like: “We want a teacher.”

    I think the York’s have a proven track record when it comes to coaches. Harbaugh was used to build a stadium…

    York’s retaining current coaching staff minus Tomsula to save money and will force them on the new coach.

    1. So because an owner finally gets it and stays out of football business ( he admits he know nothing about the aspects of it) he’s “prarie dogging”? 1st u want him to shut up and just own the team, now yoy will be mad if he doesny show his face? Wich one u want buddy? Cant have both. Well this is a free country. Just sayin.He finally shows his face, awnsered questions and vitally gets the hell out of the way and you have a problem with it. Aren’t u one of the many, along with Tom d and others who said, “Jed needs to leave football along and just own the team and let football guys run the business”? Well seems to me that’s what he’s doing, unless proven otherwise. You can’t have your cake and eat it to. Well actually u can, but the point is, the fans won, I think he finally gets it and is staying, the hell out of the way.

  2. I was sing Auld Lang Sine and cheering in the 49ers New Year when I ran across this tweet from Cassie Baalke
    Is it true that Trent is giving her full authority to make the 49ers 1st pick in 2016?

    Cassie Baalke

    January 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    Aside from mom’s lame tuna casserole, talk is that Grant C. will be offered the job of 9er Media Relations Coordinator. And, since I didn’t tweet anything embarrassing regarding the 9ers this year, I get a 2011 Altima. Pick it up tomorrow in Hayward.

    1. Funny, I was humming the tune of The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’…

      Take a bow for the new revolution
      Smile and grin at the change all around
      Pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday
      Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
      We don’t get fooled again, no no!

        1. Hey Cassie, I would be more encourage to have you run your dad’s position than him, I believe you care more about the team overall than anyone in the front office and would be an excellent asset. The Yorks similar to many team owners only care about the money but there’s something special about you. Don’t give up and pursue the dream of some day running this team, hey, you can’t do any worse than the “Dorks”. Have a Happy New Year!

    2. To be honest, I’m the one who gathers injury reports and medical assessments from colleges around the country–did that as an intern the last two winters. My info helped dad to decide which injured players to draft.

      1. Do you go out of your way to identify
        those college players with ACL tears ? .. and
        why is your dad so enamored with them ?

        1. I shouldn’t say this, but my dad wanted to go to med school. He had a devil of a time with Organic Chemistry–ate his lunch. He’s fascinated with how the human body works–all those joints…

  3. “I hear the criticism, loudly. Whether that’s talking to fans directly, whether that’s social media or from planes flying over my head.”

    I guess the plane was worth the money.

    1. Damn right it was. Took some coconuts to admit he was wrong. I’ll give him that. But words are worlds. Back it up with a good hire and offseason

        1. ‘I hear the criticism loudly, whether it is social media or from planes flying over my head.’

          1. And that means he’s read your posts, specifically, and attributes them to you, specifically?

            1. He reads the social media. Niner Insider blog site is part of the social media.
              Do not argue with me, differ with Jed.

              1. Seb
                Lets recap. Seb sez “jimmy T has so much juice that he got Parag “the leaker” Marathe reasigned by threatening to walk out”

                Flash forward to January 3rd. Jimmy T is fired while Marathe ” His role in terms of football will not change.” is back to doing the same thing he always has.

                Oh and if the leaker has been banished to minor league soccer WHO LEAKED OUT Jimmy T’s firing 16 hrs before it happened.

                Back to the drawing board huh seb?

              2. Now we know. Obviously, Tomsula did not leak he was fired. Jed just decried leaking and said he would part with any leaker since it was not in his best interest to leak. That just leaves Baalke. All along, he was the leaker, yet Jed does not have the balls to fire him.

              3. Jed said he would part with any leaker, but then said he was keeping Marathe, so Jed is a lying tool who deserves a 5-11 team.

              4. Or neither Marathe or Baalke is the leaker and you saw connections that were not there. The building is crawling with people who are in the know to one extent or another so any one of them could be the leaker especially if they are dissatisfied with the things going on inside the building and feel that their only recourse is to make the org look bad by leaking disparaging things to the media.

              5. Jed should realize that loose lips sinks ships. He should have kept quiet and not said anything, but no, he had to go blabbing and blathering about. Jim Tomsula deserved better. Niners deserve to lose with Jed at the helm.

              6. I for one am simply in awe of the logical prowess on display above. Personally, I would have interpreted Jed’s statement about social media to indicate that he had read sources from the set of all social media but not that he had read every source in said set. I would have further reasoned that he might have read this site, as it is within the set of all social media, but that his statement did not provide sufficient specificity to determine whether or not he had read this blog. I simply would not have had the insight to see, however, that his statement conclusively shows that he read this particular blog and gave weight to a specific poster.

                It takes a truly unique intellect to determine from the information given that Jed must have read the entire set of all social media, including this blog, and that he specifically read the writings of a particular poster. We are fortunate to have a front row seat to the workings of such an amazing mind.

              7. Considering that I have been loudly criticizing the Niner FO and coaching, when Jed says he reads the criticisms. how else can I interpret his statement? Maybe you will be now disavowing what Jed said. I am just writing what he said.

              8. when Jed says he reads the criticisms. how else can I interpret his statement?

                We could quibble over the modal you chose to use, as there are any number of ways that one could interpret his statement, but alas such an avenue would lead us away from the sublime truth of your statement. Rather, let’s all agree that there is indeed no other way that you would interpret his statement, and that ability to make connections where none are to be otherwise seen is a gift from which all readers of this blog benefit in proportionate measure to its greatness.

              9. Thats OK. I see you are in awe my greatness, and easily amused.
                Some other posters are affixing -THE in front of my name, just making me more relevant and important. I feel like The Fonz.

          1. I think its interesting that “championship caliber” has two different meanings for coach and GM.
            For a coach (presumably harbaugh) its not enough to get to the SB or close to it every year and warrants getting unceremoniously fired.
            But for a GM (baalke in this case) getting the same exact results buys him another year and an unusual opportunity of picking his 3rd HC.

            I cant think of any parallels to this aside from Jerry Jones and thats only because he wont fire himself as GM

  4. Damon Bruce opened his show with: “what, because we pick a new coach from a deck of cards nobody else did, we get a high draft pick!”

    I thought Superbowls were the Standard.

    And you should have flushed the whole staff down the toilet.

    1. A year from today, let’s all agree to check back on this and see how it all played out.

      1. Ok, Cassie ..

        Please tell us …

        who is on the short list for HC ?

        (C’mon, girl .. you know you
        wanna spill the beans)

        1. No short list yet, but early names are Payton (’cause one has to consider him), Brian Kelly (yes, from ND…Jed’s a golden domer),David Shaw, Shanahan–dad uses last names so not sure which. Hue Jackson was mentioned while dad was grumbling in the shower this morning–couldn’t find his tube of Prell.

          1. Cassie sez :

            “….Jed’s a golden domer…”

            Oh! .. izzat what you call it now a days ?

            Way back in the day… we just
            called it (simply) ..

            a chrome dome !

      2. Same old, same old. Why would anyone play for this team and the Yorks? Bring back Ed Debartolo and the fans would be ecstatic and elated to have a champ & someone who cares about the organization, the fans, and a winning attitude too.

    2. @ricardo…In a word “No”, I don’t believe anything that comes outta Jed’s mouth, imvho he has lost all credibility in so many freaking ways.

  5. Watching the press conference I actually believe Jed York is sincere in his future efforts while also being humbled.
    It’s not easy to admit mistakes publicly. He did that. Good for him. Now words and subdued body language are one thing, next is putting these words and emotions into action.
    After that, Baalke needs to have the greatest offseason ever!

    1. Say what you want about Jed and the mistakes he’s made, but I agree Prime. He seemed genuinely humbled by what happened this season. That at least is a positive sign.

      1. Follow the action not the chatter. Focus on what they (J&B) do.

        The best I’m hoping for is that a strong coach will be hired and Jed will see to it that Baalke will work with the new guy and that he will try to staff the talent that the coaches scheme calls for – not what Baalke thinks his guru would have wanted. That will take a lot more than deferring to the HC about what QB the coach wants.

        Even better, Jed could bring in an NFL guy over Baalke that can insure that the players match the scheme.

    2. I agree. Takes some guts to get up there and admit you’re a Buffon when it comes to football decisions.
      I also likes that he basically put Baalke on notice by giving him total control and saying it in front of everyone.
      He could have did what he said he could have done and what most on here thought he was going to do. And put roses on a pile of ****!
      I’m thinking maybe it isn’t about the money and it is about winning. Problem was he was the problem.

  6. Cam Inman ✔ @CamInman
    #49ers signed three practice-squad players to reserve/future contracts:
    WR DiAndre Campbell
    DT Kaleb Ramsey
    DT Garrison Smith

  7. Might not be popular, but I think Jed learned a valuable lesson and he’s convinced me he truly wants to win. Like he said, he could have done what many on here expected and list the excuses why they believe Tomsula deserves another year. He didn’t do that. He owned up to his mistake, ate his contract and is moving forward. He deserves points for that and now we wait to see how high up the food chain Baalke can land a real HC with an offensive mind….

      1. They should hire a headhunting firm to aid in the process. They should identify the parameters that make a coach desirable, and draw up a list of potential candidates. Then let Baalke do the interviews because he needs to work together with the HC.

        1. I have a firm in mind… Sebnynah and Associates. I hear they’ve consulted successfully with the Patriots, Seahawks, Green Bay, and most recently Arizona. Seb has a villa on 17 Mile Drive to show for it.

          1. Here is my top 10 list.
            David Shaw
            Mike Holmgren
            Sean Payton
            Vic Fangio
            Ken Norton
            Anthony Lynn
            Lou Saben
            Mike Shula
            Mark Helfrich
            Gus Malzahn

            1. David Shaw has said repeatedly that he has no interest in leaving Stanford…..and personally, I wouldn’t want to see him leave…I’ve been a Stanford fan since the early ’70s, and the university finally has a coach that fields teams that dominate….besides, I believe that David Shaw has too much pride to take a step back

              1. I know he said he is happy with Stanford and basically has tenure there, but it was just a list of qualified HC candidates.
                Notice I did not include Hue, Kelly, Mangini, Mora or Shanahans.

              2. I am hoping Saben would get tired of college championships and would want to aim for glory with a Lombardi, but he is a god where he is at, so has little incentive to move.

    1. While I don’t think he went far enough and should have fired Baalke as well, I do have to give Jed credit for not taking the easy way out. He came out by himself and took the shots. Now as Razor mentioned, it just comes down to whether Baalke can convince a high quality HC to work with him.

      1. Never gonna happen….a proven HC, is not gonna sit idly by, and watch Baalke waste another 6 draft picks this year, as he has in the past….Baalke is gonna have surrender some of the autonomy he has in that regard…..I mean, seriously, does he actually BELIEVE that he knows more about football talent than someone like Mike Holmgren or Mike Shanahan? His draft record squeaks for itself….it sucks….time to hire a real head coach, make sure that the new coach has a say in which players are drafted, who his coaching staff will or will not include, and which vets stay or go….otherwise, a yes man that marches in lockstep with Trent it’s what we’ll end up with….

        1. If you read Trent’s PC answers it sure sounds like he will be working in concert with the new HC to draft players. The question is do you believe it. I do, because Trent is basically on notice that this is his last year if they don’t get it right.

          1. OK. Let’s assume Baalke means what he says.

            What about this hypothetical? What if Baalke can’t convince one of the coaches who would be expected to do that kind of rebuild to believe that he can work with Baalke — someone who called 2015 a retooling year.

            In that situation, will Jed be astute enough to realize that Baalke isn’t going to be able to land one of the coaches who has a good chance to actually do the job that’s needed? If Jed does realize what’s happening, will he will know what to do about the situation?

            Otherwise, I see a continuation of Ground Hog Day in the 49er fan’s collective future.

          2. Cubus
            But if thats the case (and I think it is) wont TB be more inclined to do it his way since his azz is officially on the line now. As in; If TB wants player A and the new HC wants player B wont the thinking go a little something like this ” if im gonna get fired if this goes sideways id rather stick with my gut and get the guy i believe in as opposed to trusting my job to the decision of the new HC”?

    2. Great point, with that said, if Eric Mangini or Tony Sparano is the coach next year,we will all know he’s full of bulldoody

  8. Regarding Hue Jackson. There won’t be an opportunity to interview him until the bye week before the Superbowl. That might be too late with other candidates already snatched up by other teams. It’s gonna be interesting to see how this plays out.

    1. Unless they lose this weekend to the Steelers which there is a good chance of that happening without Dalton.

  9. Funny how fast York walked past that question about JH.

    York is responsible for this mess, and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions.

        1. Grimes,

          I think he did take some responsibility for running off JH. He asked about JH and he said, “I don’t spend time on things I can’t undo.” If he was going to say he didn’t have at least some regrets about running JH off, wouldn’t he just say no, rather than what he said?

          1. You might want Jed to provide some clue that he has at least attempted to understand how that came about, and how badly he handled it, and how long he spent handling it.

            He could have said that in February, 2013 I should have just released Harbaugh from his contact. It’s my prerogative who works for me and my choice was to part ways with JimmyH, and I should have done it then.

            As a side benefit today Jed wouldn’t have been required to pretend that there are no leaks in his front office.

  10. Baalke vs Not Baalke or “Everything I say in this comment is completely true, except the part about the banana.”

    I’m as unhappy as anyone about the sate of the 49ers, and well aware Baalke had his freak-ups, but there’s been a slew of Baalke criticism where the generalities are correct, but sorely lack in specifics.

    Did Baalke
    – Wack Anthony Davis on the head?
    – Konk Borland on the head too?
    – Stomp Hyde’s foot?
    – Crunch Bowman’s knee?
    – Stomp Willis’ toe?
    – Pour whisky in Aldon Smith’s Gator-aid?
    – Sprinkle aging dust into Justin Smith’s oatmeal or wrench his shoulder?
    – Sprinkle a little more aging dust into Vernon’s Jamba Juice, or Frank Gore’s mashed potatoes?
    – Tonya Harding Kilgore’s lower leg?
    – Shake Mike Davis’ hand too hard?

    PS: None of the above were “ACL Redshirts”. In fact, no “ACL Redshirt when on IR in 2014-2015

    In scouting Aldon Smith, were there reports he was a party animal? In scouting Borland, was there scuttlebutt he didn’t see himself as a long term NFL player?

    From a purely on-field aspect they were both home run picks, especially Borland considering his draft position.

    Now onto bad Baalke

    – There’s a pattern of sudden departures and in season injuries. When there’s a pattern, there’s usually a common denominator behind it.

    For example, players on the cusp of getting a super bow ring might delay retiring for a year or two. Older players dreaming of Lombardi trophies might put a little more into focus into workouts, and a bit less focus in their Jamba Juice franchises.

    – Pass catcher mistakes, like letting Delaney Walker go and drafting Jenkins.
    – O-line depth failures. Investing three years developing Looney, only to realize he stinks. Martin looks awful. Thomas is a total mystery man.

    To clear all this up, I drove down to far away Santa Clara for a personal chat with Mr. Baalke. During the 17 hour drive from Healdsburg to Santa Clara, I became angrier and angrier about the state of a once proud franchise.

    Famished after the long trip, I was eating a banana as I strode into Baalke’s office. Things were cordial until I saw a picture on the wall of Joe Thomas. That was it. I snapped, and flung the banana right at the picture of Joe Thomas. Trent ducked the wrong way, and the banana when “splat” right onto his forehead. I just stood there, watching the banana slowly slide the 49er GMs face.

    So we’ll never know for sure. I’m guessing (because that’s all I can do after the banana incident) most of the departures/injuries are bad timing.

    1. B2W, please evaluate his 2015 Free Agent class.
      Baalke traded for Devey. I rest my case.

          1. They were in a desparate situation when he acquired Devey, weren’t they? And they didn’t give much to get him. That move does t bother me so much.

            Doesn’t he get points for drafting Brown? He looks pretty good.

            I’m not a huge Baalke fan, but he’s not as bad as most are making him out to be.

            1. Maybe all he needed was a teacher along the way who marked his report card with “Needs to work better with others.” Especially offensive minded people who weren’t trained by his guru the grocery shopper.

            2. Whiffing on the 2012 draft class does not impress me. Obviously you give him a pass, but if only one player had improved the team that year, the Niners could have won a SB.

          2. I mentioned Devey because he was the player most responsible for allowing Kaep to get injured, which doomed the season. I also mentioned he was traded for. I did not include him in the FA list of busts.

              1. Which means ‘Best’ , being a relative term, does not count much when describing losing.

              2. I am sure you must be right, given your verbal acuity, but please help me understand. If ‘best’ is always a relative term, why point it out that it is relative here? It seems to me to be a redundancy to articulate the relative nature of this use of it when the term itself is always relative to the hierarchy of members of a given set.

        1. Cherry pick usually means one player. I am referring to a whole FA list. Dockett, Bush, Wright, Cook, Bishop, Hunter, Cadet and others are a whole bushel of cherries.

      1. Yeah but he traded a 8th string TE who would have been a first cut in August.
        I blame Jimmy T for starting him 5 days after he got in to town. However Devey might be the worst OL ever this side of Chilo Rachal

  11. In Baalke I trust.

    If they fired ballke, I bet there are @ least 5 teams that would hire him in a heartbeat.

      1. Hmm. I’m not sure why you guys think that. I’m leaning the other way. I know this comparison is not apples to apples, but did you really think that Chip Kelly would get as little interest for a HC position as he has (at least that is publicly acknowledged)? Chip hasn’t been that successful and is difficult. Kind of sounds like Baalke.

        1. Chip Kelly’s difficult to be sure.

          I think merely Baalke’s an introvert. His comfort zone is scouting, grinding, watching film, out of the spotlight. Excess face time tires them out.

          I can easily see how personality conflicts of his subordinates grow out of hand because he’s late recognizing signs of power struggles.

      1. Name one? Okay… Cleveland. Laugh all you want, you asked for one. Want another? San Diego…

  12. Perhaps there is already another uncertainty brewing. That is who makes the decision on who to hire. Grimetime’s link suggested that Baalke would share the coaching search duties with several members of the ownership group. However, the Niner’s CEO has said that Baalke and his staff will be involved. Exactly, who will be looking for the next coach? And, “Who will be making the decisions on hiring the next head coach for the Forty Niners?

  13. I’m not sure if Jed York truly gets it or not. He said all the nice sweet little words that fans wanted to hear, but there were things that he that should also give pause. For instance:
    “8-8 and 5-11, neither one of them is acceptable to me. I’d rather take a swing like we did on Jimmy T and if you miss, the nice thing about the NFL is they reward you for missing.

    So the season was absolute crap, but you’d rather cut loose a great coach and take a swing at crap because hey, you get a high draft pick? That makes sense. I guess York should at least get brownie points for what he said after these stupid statements.

    And I feel like watching what my uncle did, watching what my grandfather did, you have to learn from mistakes.

    Then hire a go-between of the coach and you ya buffoon! It’s honestly not that hard.

    If you didn’t get this one right and Trent is going to hire the next coach, what makes you think that the next one will be right? I assume that you’re not going to be bringing anyone else in the decision making process?

    “I mean, Trent’s staff will be in part of it. But, it will be Trent leading the process.”

    Wait, can you answer that though, follow-up? Why are you confident that he’ll make the right decision this time?

    “I mean, I think he’s done it in the past and I think he can do it again.”

    Yep, and you let him go because you couldn’t get along with him. Winning took a backseat to your bruised ego.

    Will the new head coach be able to pick his entire staff?

    “Yes, and that’s always been the case here.”

    As long as it’s either someone that is from the Parcells coaching tree or a yes man, right?

    I’m just curious if you feel that because of what’s happened, both before you hired Harbaugh and since the way that relationship devolved, all the others things, that this might be a tough sell for an experienced, high-powered coach, qualified coach, that they might not be interested in coming to work here?

    “I’m not concerned about that.”

    YOU SHOULD BE.

    Another big picture question. We only get these like once a year, so we’ve got ask the big, big ones, the macros. The perception was that Jim Harbaugh was extremely difficult to get along with and that was a large reason why you guys parted ways, that you personally did not like him or get along with him, that Jim Tomsula was the easiest guy in the world to get along with and that’s why you hired him. Can you address that issue? Every owner, every team has the personality of its owner. Are you in need of somebody who you’re comfortable with, who makes you feel good when you’re in a room with them?

    “We’re in need of somebody that can win Super Bowls.”

    So, personality doesn’t matter?

    “We’re in need of somebody that can win Super Bowls.”

    Didn’t you have that guy?

    “We haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1994.”

    But we’d also be in a better spot than where we are right now.

    Bottom line is that I feel like Jed York held a press conference to placate we the fans and we need to wait and see whether York has actually learned his lessonor simply just slipped back on his sheep skin.

    1. Mid: There’s no doubt that talk is cheap. But his statements are on the record and you can bet the fans and press will let him know about it in the future. He said to hold him accountable last year and he said at the beginning of the PC that it was on him. He’s doing something to atone: namely firing the HC and loosening the purse strings for a new HC and staff and FAs. As I’ve been saying all morning, for me it’s a promising first step.

      And, I really think that he strongly insinuated that Baalke only gets this year to turn the team around. If he doesn’t he’s gone after 2016. I feel like we got most of what we wanted as fans.

      1. The thing is that I’ve seen this song and dance before with the Cubus, and frankly I’m sick of it. If I wanted to keep getting placated by my team’s owner, I’d go root for the Lions or Browns.
        I also didn’t really get the vibe that Baalke’s butt is on the hot seat. It was more like we will continue to sink or swim with Baalke and his decisions.
        I will admit that I did get a chuckle at the thought of Jed saying that he doesn’t want someone that leaks things to the media on his team. I mean how weird would it look if the Yorks fired themselves?

    2. It’s all going to come down to who they hire Mid. I give them credit for realizing they f’d up and not exacerbating the situation by continuing on with Tomsula. Now the question is: Can they identify a top quality HC candidate and once they do, can they convince him to take the job?

      1. That’s the tricky part, Rocket. The will may be strong, but there might not be a good way. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to pay top dollar to get the HC they want, but there’s going to be competition, so things might not go the way they plan.

        1. Brent Jones thinks it might help to bring some high quality football people into the football operation which now consists of Baalke and his daughter. Players, especially old ones, have strange ideas sometimes.

      2. I think the bigger question is whether they will allow the coach to do his job if he is winning without letting their egoes get bruised Rocket. It’s not going to matter who York and Baalke hire if they don’t want someone to challenge them thus putting the franchise back in the same spot 2-4 years from now.

    3. Great post, Mid….I said basically the same thing in my posts after they fired ‘Jimmy’ T…..simply put, you aren’t on board with Baalke and his asinine decisions on draft day, you don’t work for this once fabled franchise….I fear that Jed and Trent are going into the recycling business during this search for a new ‘head ‘coach’.

      1. 55 Niner: “New coach”—who on their right mind would want to work for these clowns? Another Tomsula? and not soon after he’s done with his first press conference the press will cheer him on and try to get you to buy tickets and Niners jerseys.

    4. Mid,

      I’m not sure they had that guy in Harbaugh. Don’t get me wrong, I think the guy is an incredible coach but he’s never one “the big one”. He has won a lot of games but lost his one Super Bowl chance, and has yet to even win a conference championship at the collegiate level.

      1. I hear ya Jack, but we still would’ve been in a better position than we are right now. Could this season have been just as bad? Probably, but we wouldn’t be wondering as much about whether this was a franchise that could bounce back.

        1. Mid,

          The 2015 49ers were an 8-9 win team even if Harbaugh was the coach. Yes, Tomsula and most of his staff was bad, but Baalke did no favors with the roster he gave them to work with.

          1. As I said, this season could’ve been just as bad with Harbaugh at the helm, but we wouldn’t be worry as much about if the team could bounce back. And the team played 17 games?

    5. MW:

      Watch actions and leave the “hope” The Jed and others filled with hope. Maybe everyone will get what they want.

    1. Just when he finally convinced me that he was worth a high round pick too. Oh well.

  14. More importantly who will take the responsibility for the head coach hire if various voices have spoken into the process behind the scenes?

  15. Jason La Canfora Retweeted
    Jeff Duncan ‏@JeffDuncan_ 5h5 hours ago
    Saints Coach Sean Payton will meet with the media on Wednesday at 1 p.m., per Saints PR.

  16. If Jed wants a leader and the Colts are stupid enough to let him slip away then the next 49er coach should definitely be Chuck Pagano.

    1. I felt like Jed was contrite about his arrogance and ignorance. I’ll give it this upcoming season as an illustration of his sincerity and hunger to truly resurrect the Niners beyond this catastrophic mess he is responsible for.

      1. It’s what happens between now and the end of the draft that will tell you what Jed’s actions are going to be.

  17. Naw, he’s young and dumb. Mature adults scrutinize the actions of a person apologizing after the apology to ascertain the depth of sincerity.

    *shrugs

  18. I have to confess I am a bit relieved to hear the talk coming out of the 49er brass lately but I am also reminded that one of the things they have done is excel at talk, and well…the execution has been wanting. So I am a waiting and seeing how things shake out.

    A question for all of you? When has a firm come up with a great coach for a team that won a Super Bowl? I can’t think of one, or even a playoff team from a firm search. I just think the committee approach breeds safe mediocrity.

    1. Well, since a non firm search gave us Tomsula, why do you think that it will work again? They should use all tools at their disposal to get it right. They do not have to only use the search firm, it could just be used to identify qualified candidates. Baalke then should interview each one to determine the best choice for him. However, if Baalke was on board with Tomsula, maybe his judgement is lacking.

  19. Jed sounded sincere about restarting to me. I will watch what they do with the coaching staff and the new head coach and the roster.

    1. Jed poorly read what Bob Lange wrote for him. He tried to sound sincere, but I am not so naive.
      Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Leaking that Tomsula was gone before the last game was classless and mean. Oh how I long for the Glory Years where they truly acted and performed like champions. This present act is pathetic and tasteless.
      Now we have Baalke not remembering how many years he has on his contract, and you want him to lead the Head Coaching search?

      1. Yes, and the owner wasn’t afraid to fire his coach on a semi-regular basis. The eighties were a glorious time for class and never a mean word was heard well into the nineties.

  20. Jed wants a leader. Jed is the leader, but his actions demonstrates he is a putrid leader.
    He wants to win. Guess what? EVERYONE wants to win. There is only one winner, and 31 losers. Jed is a loser.
    Jed should end the nightmare. He should hold himself accountable, acknowledge his failings and gracefully step down. Baalke is the architect of this disaster and will continue to rearrange the deck chairs on this Titanic catastrophe. Baalke is so stupid, he cannot remember how long his contract runs. It should have ended in 2015.
    Jed wants a leader? How about Nikki Debartolo? She would come in with a clean slate, and not be the one who drove away a coach who made it to 3 NFCC Games and a SB.
    Even though I do not know her, she would be considered a genius when compared to Jed, because I have seen what Jed has done. Jed is not an imbecile because that would be denigrating imbeciles.

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