Report: 49ers to fire both Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke

This should make your day. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 49ers are expected to fire head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke. “Both Kelly and Baalke are said to know that their time in San Francisco is coming to an end,” Schefter wrote.

What do you make of this news? And whom do you think the 49ers should hire to replace these two? If I were Jed York, I would try to hire Nick Saban as both head coach and vice president of football operations. And if he turned me down, I would try to hire Scott Pioli as the GM and Kyle Shanahan as the head coach.

This article has 273 Comments

  1. Can’t call York cheap anymore if he’s willing to pay for 3 coaches salaries at the same time.

    1. Wondering of Kelly has a clause where his new salary subtracts from his guaranteed 49er pay.

      It would be funny if he took three years off, just to fart around.

      1. La Canfora’s tweet that I posted in the previous thread would suggest that there is an “offset” type clause in his contractor.

            1. That’s what I figured. York may be dumb but he is not stupid. Pretty sure there will be a nice settlement but don’t see them paying him the term and amount of original contract.

    2. Wahoo, oh yes, yes, oh yes, all you just got to to do is get the KRAPPER OUT OF HERE! thanks for giving me back the Christmas that you Fing ruined, 49ers! Good riddance to Kelly, never wanted that boob around! Hire Shanahan or Holmgren, or try to get Gruden!

      1. Thing is, 49er fans are both parochial and spoiled. You think the Yorks are the worst owners. Jesus.

        The Ford family in Detroit makes the York’s look like geniuses. In 52 years of ownership they’ve won ONE playoff game and have had 16 winning seasons. 16!

        The clown in Cleveland (Haslam) has owned the team about 4 years and made more stupid moves than the Yorks have since 1998. He meddled so much in the draft that he had the Browns trade up to take Manziel because a HOMELESS MAN recommended the pick!

        http://tinyurl.com/hdvy9pl

        Stan Kroenke has not only effed the Rams up, he also dumped all over St. Louis a city that supported that dog of a team and did everything he asked to keep them. And he still has his lousy GM that not only traded way too much for Goff but squandered the fleecing of the Redskins! And it’s not just the Rams, he wrecks ALL of his sports franchises.

        Ask any Chargers’ fan about Spanos. Or Miami fans about Ross.

        Or the Titans… After firing the completely incompetent Ken Whisenhunt, the franchise replaced him with Mike Mularkey on an interim basis. Mularkey proceeded to go 2-7. So what did they do when it came time to hire a new head coach after the season? They hired Mularkey! . Because, after all, when in doubt always hire a guy with an 18-39 career head coaching record!!! (And currently 10-19 with the Titans.)

        Dan Snyder, much loved by 49er fans in the early 00s and lauded as the epitome of what an owner should be actually SUED his season ticket holders who couldn’t afford to pay for their season tickets when the economy crashed in 2008. Yes, he sued them! And, of course, he’s meddled so much and so often the Redskins have gone nowhere despite, on occasion, managing to get good people to come in and fix his mistakes only to have him meddle once again….

        So as much as fans whine. It could be worse.

        1. Wrong again. I frankly do not give a damn about those other owners, but the Niners were once the epitome of class and winning.

          The Niners were at the peak, and fell into the gutter.To me, that is more shameful than never even having a chance to succeed.

    3. Every coach they’ve fired has had money owed. If you add it all up, it’s 11.5 years of head coach salary they’ve had to eat.

      1. Have you seen their revenue? And increased franchise value? They’re okay eating it.

    1. Both Ballard and Toub will have connections through their time with Reid and at the Bears. So would imagine anyone that’s gone through those systems would be in consideration. Anyone have any idea which guys that covers that may be available?

  2. I don’t have a name at the ready for GM, but I hope they continue the model of building a physical gap scheme offense. Basically, pick up where McCloughan left off.

  3. What I want to complete the new year is a Browns victory and the #1 overall. Myles Garrett, or lucrative trade-back bait.

  4. “someone from the Ron Wolf tree” has been the trendy thing to say. I really have no names to present for GM… but besides lucking into Rogers, do the Packers really draft all that well?

    1. Thank you… I said the same thing. The packers get soo much love for drafting well, but they hit on as many draft picks as balkee. The one main thing they have….. A Rod!! When they win that title thru had vets on that team. And every since then, they have let em all go and have been middle of the pack in a weak division.

  5. Leechan over at NN, who I guess is a NN reporter, believes that the team already has a new GM in mind and that GM is not Tom Gamble.

    “Kelly’s departure indicates pretty solidly that the 49ers already have a GM in mind that is not named Gamble.

    This must have been in the works for a little while if the candidate has been vetted and already arranged to choose his own head coach. I have spoken with my own sources who are saying that Kelly’s agent has believed this was going to happen for a while.”

    http://www.ninersnation.com/2016/12/31/14137380/49ers-to-fire-trent-baalke-chip-kelly

      1. At least that’s what they want us to believe. Let’s see if they can come through?

    1. Planning does not appear to be runtly’s (Jed) strong suit; so my guess is that if anybody is “in mind” that person was kind enough to push the wee one in the right direction.

      The problem is not just the York’s ownership; the Niners need an adult in the organization that can “handle” the owner like McVey helped Eddie. Drunken owners making haphazard decisions killed the Niners.

      They really did Dis Walsh; hired the second Nolan; then Simpleterry; then fired the entire coaching staff just to show us who was really in charge. They moved the team away from San Francisco while retaining the name of the city in their team name. Ray McDonald; All Done Smith; Culliver’s hit and run travels.

      These Yorktolos should be deciding which store to close next; and should not be involved with football.

    2. cubus: What you say makes a lot of sense. That was also my impression. They fired Kelly because of the new GM hire.

  6. I am going to have such a party on monday, wahoo! Wahoo! Yes, all you just got to do next is get rid of the Krapper. Give him a flag when he leaves. Oh happy day, happy day, happy day, I feel like Tyrone of DC Cab, telling you 49ers fans to GET OUT as I’m rich!

    1. At the beginning of a season for sure, but at the end of a disasterous season it makes sense to me.

    1. Doubt it. Remember the last time Niners had the #1pick? How many more years (and coaching changes) of mediocrity did we have to suffer through? Maybe this team is competitive by 2023.

      1. Florio at PFT just copies what he reads. He’s quoted Grant a couple of times, once when they were wrong about the speculation. They’re not a credible source; TMZ of the NFL.
        Sheftner isn’t too far off very often. He seems to have a warning antenna about sketchy reports so he doesn’t over-extend too often. He’s been known to float rumors and let others be wrong on reporting them just to flush out a different nugget.
        So, he may very well have this one right. I’m waiting to see on it.
        What’s troubling and probably correct: Jed & Paraag will conduct the searches. They’ll probably hire John Scully or Carly Fiorina.

        1. I tend to agree on Florio. But he reported this:

          “Per multiple reports, from ESPN and NFL Network, coach Chip Kelly is expected to be fired.”

          If the networks are picking it up it would seem to have some legs.

  7. You know I keep hearing, nobody wants to work for balkee, and nobody wants to work with Kelly, and nobody wants to work with Jed.. but I guarantee if a respectable GM comes in he can get any coach he wants. This is the same owner that trusted balkee over others. He is willing to give a good GM complete control. Now he just needs a good GM that can get a good coach so they can work together.. no more me against the world crap. We lost our last 2 good coaches because of that. Mariucci and harbaugh.

    1. ‘If a respectable GM comes in…..’

      Yep, no respectable GM would touch Jed with a 10 foot pole, so it will be another toady with an inflated opinion of his self worth.

      With predictable results. More losing. Maybe they will not win a game next season. Then Jed will be rewarded even more.

      1. Hi Seb… I disagree. A respectable GM will touch Jed because Jed gives his GM full rains. We will agree to disagree on this one

  8. Actually, I don’t think it’s good news for the team.
    Yorkie offset the JT salary by NOT spending 50 mil cap $$$ on free agents. If he wants to balance the books again, and pay THREE people for not working, he’ll go real cheap in the draft! He’ll be under the cap again, mark my words!

    1. Well Dee, all teams have to spend at least 89% of their salary cap within a four year period, but that 11% difference is substantial. And with regards to the draft, salaries are pretty much set depending upon selected slot, so I don’t see how they could do anything there.

      I prefer to believe that Jed is learning from his mistakes and will stay out of how the new GM spends the money. I’m expecting the “full monte” when it comes to getting new players. But, we’ll see.

        1. Sure, but relative to the cap size, I’m pretty sure the annualized difference between #1 and #8 or so is chump change.

      1. I believe Jed let the GM spend the money. That’s y balkees prints are all over this roster. Jed gave him free rains

  9. GM – Elliot Wolf
    HC – Vance Joseph
    OC – Mike McCoy
    DC – Mike Vrabel

    1. That’s my greatest fear about keeping Kelly. You select a QB suited to his style, which is pretty simple, then fire Kelly – what happens to the QB?

      Best plan is to bring in a new HC at the same time as adding the rookie QB.

      1. They tried rebuilding from the bottom up. Time to call a reverse and rebuild from the top down.

  10. Can’t believe some of you are like Darren 5000 and want a lost tomorrow. Some fans are as fickle as York is. Go Niners and ruin the Hawks chances for a 2nd seed.

    1. I want a win. I doubt the 49ers will deliver, but hey one can hope.

    2. Now that we might fire Kelly/Baalke, yes a win is in order. The only way things get changed in the York agenda is rock bottom. So maybe an embarrassing loss is what it will take?

        1. Ha! I don’t think Kap has scored 7 TDs all year! Certainly not much more than that thru the air……

          Seb, I refer you to Daffy Duck who once saw a similar poser……….and called it “despicable”.

          1. Saw, Kaep threw for 15. with only 4 picks. He had a 122 QBR last game.

            Poser? That defines you. Despicable.

    3. Aw shut up. You hate it so much, go be a flipping Raiders fan and say goodbye to them when they go to las Vegas. you bleeding heart liberal type 49ers fans make me sick. Come on Hawks, take out Kap and pummel the 49ers!

        1. That would make for an interesting choice. The Cohns and Kawakami would mysteriously disappear for criticism of him. If you thought the mind games, leaks and political maneuvering are bad now.

      1. Go be a Raiders fan… lol. Darren’s either performance art or the #1 self unaware clueless internet idiot

  11. Three birds with one throw! That’s a holiday miracle.
    The top 3 positions for an organization will be new next year. That makes a fan happy.
    FOR NOW! :-) happy New Years guys and gals. Cheers! To 17

        1. And is why I think he’s not a good option. I don’t like hinting via twitter, seems desperate regardless of what Grant thinks.

  12. Best. News. Ever. Now somebody get Jed a copy of “Take Your Eyes of the Ball 2.0” and we’ll do fine. Topping would be bringing back Harbs, but that ain’t gonna happen.

  13. Nothing will change. It will be more of the same for decades. Niners are the west coast version of the Redskins — a teamed doomed by the idiocy of the owner. Get used to it.

    1. Right now, getting rid of Kap is the happiest day for anybody: no more kiss teh bicep, no more no 300 yards games, no more obvious plays. No more kneel downs. No more disrespecting the 49ers image. Even Jed Y ork has to realize no changes mean no fans.

      1. So I guess, Rebel, that what i put up, John York DID NOT fire Erickson and Donahue, right? We never had a 2006, right? What we are doing with Baalke and Kelly is NOT like it was in 2006? You don’t see the similarities, right, and what did we do that year? You better hope that this team learned and they will NOT hire a HC first and then the GM. Hire the GM first, he gets the coach. Once again, Rebel, this 49er fan has truly stumped you and the other zoo crew once again. That’s why I have had 36 glorious years at this. I am the living legend and I am a Michael savage fan.

  14. The only way to rebuild this mess is to change the culture. This is a dream job plenty cap space, top pick. The good gms will accept the challenge.

      1. Not to be rude, but do sit on your hands until they fall asleep or you lose interest in posting nonsensical rants.

  15. Steven Young’s recent comment about 49ers ownership only caring about money not winning might have ticked off the York. Hope they would consider recruiting Brent Jones to the front office. They need former Niners champions to help in the rebuilding effort.

  16. Sigh, Jed is just losing without class. Third coach in a row to have another leak just before he coaches his last game that he will be fired.

    I bet decent coaches will avoid the Niners like the plague.

    Some day, Jed will learn that a winning culture starts at the top.

    Paraag is in good form. Do not know why he is still around. If he is advocating that the Niners will earn more money by running the team into the gutter, he sure should have been fired long ago.

    Another leak, just typical Jed. Another profile in courage.

        1. Who wouldn’t want to flee this dysfunctional dumpster fire?

          Sure am glad that Baalke is gone, but see that he is up to his old tricks with more leaks. Probably just a final parting shot.

          Jed just stepped in it again. Why can’t he keep his big mouth shut? I hope the team plays their guts out for Chip, win the game, then dares Jed to fire Chip.

          If Jed fires Chip, I hope he goes to the Rams, brings Kaep, and haunts Jed for years, until Jed is so humiliated, mommy holds him accountable, and he loses his job.

      1. I am optimistic that once Jed has his binky taken away from him, the Niners will start acting with class and get back that winning culture.

      1. WC, sorry, but they could dwell for years at the bottom, just like the Browns.

        Until they hold Jed accountable, just expect more losing.

        1. Your right on that one, Seb-ster. York is the illness that will not learn-because he does not have to. their is no incentive.

          The rest of it are just symptoms of the illness.

    1. Agree. Anybody who thinks firing baalke or even Kelly will fix the problem. Guess again
      As long as Jed Is in charge niners will be at the bottom

  17. I read it somewhere that Paraag Maratha is going to help Jed in the GM search. Someone please tell me it ain’t so! Please.

    1. The defense is currently set up to be a 3-4. A 4-3 player would not fit.

      1. To be fair I think it could be argued the defense isn’t set up to be anything. Ward, Tartt and Robinson should be able to play in either a 3-4 or 4-3.
        Buckner and Armstead are not the type of players that could only play as DE’s in 3-4 they could play in a 4-3 as well. And with Navarros injuries I don’t think we can justify building our D around our LB’s any more.

        1. I disagree. The lineebackers alone, suggest we need to abandon the 3-4. Unless we can get 2 stud MLB in here through free agency. We have good DL, who I believe would excel in a 4-3. Armstead, Buckner, Dial, Dorsey, Williams, and Blair would make a strong case to be on the field together in some compacity.

          1. Steel, I don’t think we are necessarily disagreeing. My argument is that the current roster doesn’t justify only going with a 3-4 or 4-3. I believe the next D.C. Could just as easily justify a 4-3 as they could a 3-4.

  18. Glad to hear it but not happy that the constant leaks that continue with York

    DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!

      1. Kubiak was not the problem. Elway tried to lowball Kaep, then tried to use a one year green QB to win. That was all on Elway.

        1. Being in Denver the last 2 years Kubiak has been in the hospital at least twice. Sounds like it’s health driven not performance driven. Elway is prudent and didn’t have the cash to over pay CK. He also made mistakes on CJ Anderson and let some key defensive players walk. He could have had some much better RB’s in FA that really would have helped the Broncos take pressure off their weak QB situation.

          1. Granted, Elway was hampered by winning the SB, because then that inflated the player’s worth so he lost several key players because he could not afford to keep them.

            Wonder what would have happened if they had drafted Dak instead of Lynch.

          2. He had moves he could have made that would have allowed Kaep to fit and would have done so if he thought Kaep was worth it. Based upon the way this season turned out I think his actions were justified.

            1. What moves where those? He had almost no cap space to sign valued veterans. He wasn’t going to over pay for CK.

  19. There is only one natural choice for Head of Football Operations. Peyton Manning, very much in the Elway mode. He has impeccable football knowledge, a good feel for players, commands respect and has the personality and deamenor to work well with the Yorks. I will leave it to the rest of you to speculate on the organizational structure he puts in place. Let’s bring class back to the 49ers!

    1. The only way to bring class and a winning attitude to this team is by removing the Yorks from the ownership of this team.

      The last 2 coaching searches showed us that nobody wants to work for the Yorks. Unless the Yorks are removed from the team (sell the team), we are getting more of the same again…mediocrity.

      1. Think positive Chess. A quality GM would have talked Jed out of firing Harbaugh at least until his contract was up and would have quit if Jed really did insist on Tomsula being DC for Adam Gase (which sent Gase packing). Get a first class GM and the problem of getting quality staff from there down go away.

      2. Agreed. There is every reason to look at this as musical chairs on the Titanic. No legitimate reason to think otherwise. I would like to be hopeful, tho……….cant see it with the York’s in charge.

  20. Respectfully Chess, Jed is not going anywhere. What the organization needs is an astute football guy with enough credibility to guide the organization and help the Yorks make good decisions.

  21. I’m sure Jed has his army of interns working full time, non-paid of course, on this problem with Paraag heading up the analytics. A cant miss project.

  22. Seb cheer up and read this since Kawakami is channeling your best thoughts.

    http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2016/12/31/kaepernick-baalke/

    Here’s an excerpt:

    And the GM, team announcers and Dilfer were the leading voices (Baalke, as usual, was doing it behind the scenes) who kept suggesting that Kaepernick wasn’t capable of leading the team and that his national anthem protest was a major distraction in the locker room.

    Kaepernick, all the Baalke shills implied, was a very unpopular teammate–for the anthem protest and for everything else.

    Let’s step away from the record and how Kaepernick played this season and the rest of that for now, let’s just get into what they argued: That Kaepernick was an unpopular distraction and that the locker room didn’t want him to be the QB.

    They were wrong. They were always wrong. I’ve stood in that locker room enough times to tell you Kaepernick was more popular in there this season than he ever has been.

    The Kaepernick critics/Baalke shills were blatantly egregiously wrong, wrong from the beginning, wrong in the middle and I think the players on the roster loved showing how wrong they were by giving Kaepernick the Eshmont.

    I don’t think this necessarily means Kaepernick is any more likely to remain with the 49ers next season–he has the right to get out of his contract and the 49ers have the right to release him, and one of those things will surely happen…

    1. Wilson, Thanks and Happy New Year!

      GO NINERS. Let’s start the new year right with a win.

  23. I will admit I am surprised. I did not think Jed would have eaten three years of Kelly’s contract. I thought Baalke would be the lone sacrifice to appease the PSL holders.

    Now that both Kelly and Baalke will be fired, I hope Jed goes back to our West Coast roots. Baalke was a Parcells acolyte and we all know how much Parcells hated Bill Walsh and the west coast offense. Kelly’s offense (no fullback) was also 180 degrees opposite of the Walsh system. Now is the time to get it right. Both the coach and GM should be someone rooted in the west cost offense.

    Also: Please do not hire a defensive minded head coach. All that does is your offensive coordinator gets hired for a head coaching job as soon as you become successful. We all remember how tough it was to maintain offensive continuity during the Siefert years. Seemed every other year we were looking for a new offensive coordinator.

    Happy new year everybody. Go Niners.

    1. Maybe they are settling behind closed doors. Maybe chip wants out and wants desperately back in the college ranks.

  24. It’s hard to find any positives as to why any good coach or GM would want to come here, but I’ve found two.

    1.. it does seem York has stayed out of baalkes way to destroy this team and pass up star after star in the draft for a basket of picks with injuries. He let baaalke and his feelers get rid of the best coach they’ve had in decades. Yes it sits on York too, but I believe it was baalke who ultimately wanted harbaugh gone and Jed had put all of his trust into him. So the next GM may get an owner who stays out of the way. Most GM’s would love that and is probably at the top of their list for personal wants.

    2…. the 49ers have a high pick and a lot of money to spend. With a pretty good o-line and a young defensive line that could help incite a GM, any good GM knows that’s where you start to rebuild.

    The GM pick is by far the most crucial at this point. If Jed can use these two reasons as to why this would be a good place for a job and lands a solid one with experience or gets lucky and lands a bright VP of football operations from a successful organization then hiring a head coach would be easier to do.
    I have to think coaches in the NFL saw and heard what baalke handled harbaugh and didn’t want any part of it, so reason number 1 is what he’s should definitely push and push hard.

    1. md.

      Seems like LaCanfora may have gotten it right this time. If so, a complete restructuring of football ops helps the attractiveness of the job.

      1. Yes sir. Still think that free agency money and pick help a bit too. Lol
        Happy new year Hammer. What’s you predictions on the two?

        1. md,

          I’ll defer on this one to LaCanfora. He seems to have been let on to this for a while.

          For GM he has: Louis Riddick, Scott Pioli, George Paton

          For HC he has: Josh McDaniels, Vance Joseph

          That’s a good short list of names

          1. Jack
            And the ‘Jed fired’ stuff? Are you still waiting for that shoe to drop?
            I’ll have me a pot of crow stew if that happens.

            1. Brotha,

              He might not be “fired” but I could see them adding another layer between Jed and the football folks. That would be the best case I think and something many have been calling for.

              1. I’m not sure how many football decisions Jed is actually weighing in on, so not sure about how things would change.
                Sure he participated in decisions on McDonald and Aldon and Miller and the Alex trade.
                He was up to his armpits in dumping Harbaugh, along with Marathe. IMO Baalke would’ve suffered through Harbaugh’s personality and wouldn’t have fired him and would have re-signed him.
                Jed’s alleged insistence on Tomsula as D.C. probably is what killed the Gase deal. Seriously stupid. He got away with it with Harbaugh on keeping Tomsula as DL and Rathman, so he felt emboldened with Gase. Baalke had the Gase deal done. Baalke knew better than Jim Tomsula, so,looks to me that Paraag must have encouraged Jed’s Tomsula fantasy.
                Whatever title changes occur, I don’t see Jed giving up that right, so he’ll remain capable of #*%€ing things up. The really important things.

      2. For the record I can’t think of a GM pick, but I have a funny feeling Bevil will be the next 49er head coach.

        1. The only way beavll is the next head coach is if we take a Seattle front office guy

    2. Here is who I am hoping they get:
      GM: Elliott Wolf
      HC: Jeff fisher (only if Norv agree to be OC)
      OC: Norv Turner
      D.C: Gregg Williams

      1. You really needed a sarcasm font for that one, Hawki. Right? Right? Please, for the love of god, tell me I’m right!

        Look up “mediocrity” in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of Jeff Fisher.

  25. Jed should be smart. He should deny the Chip rumors and support him, especially just before this last game. If he does not squash that rumor, no decent coach will ever want to come here to destroy his career and be fired before his last game.

    Jed should just confirm the Baalke rumor, but just say that no decision has been made about the HC, because that would be up to the new GM. if jed does that, he may salvage this bad situation, but if he keeps stabbing the HC in the back, it will cement his legacy of shame for all time.

    1. Seb you do realize that other organizations are telling us who will be let go and who will be retained? It’s not only SF. Just saying. So in that case the whole league is a leak and full of conspiracy.

      1. No, the other teams were up front and fired their coaches. They did not use leaks and smears.

        Jed is getting a reputation of behaving with crass, not class.

        1. Do all this schefter reporting on who will be fired and who will stay is not being up front??

  26. I hear people talking about Louis riddick as GM. In his stops at Philly and Wash, what were his pluses? Because none stand out. His tenure doesn’t stand out.

  27. I say bring in Holgren or Mike Shannahan. These guys have built championships, and both could bring in a good head coach. We don’t need a project or, a 1st year GM, we need proven leadership. This team could be on a 2 year turn around, instead of a 6 year turn around.

    1. We recall those guys with fondness and respect, but I dunno. Holmgren wasn’t a good GM. Now even BB sucked in Cleveland, so there’s general suckiness there, but still, it didn’t go well.
      Shanny hasn’t been a GM, so no track record there.
      If this team wants a dinosaur for Pres Ftbl Opns, Pollian would make more sense to me. I’d be lukewarm/OK with Riddick; not jazzed, but not feeling like it was a mistake move.

      1. Shanny ran that room in wash, just like holmgren ran it in Seattle. But like you said, everyone sucks in Cleveland. Shanny also ran wash and he put together some respectable teams, when Snyder left him alone

        1. Shanahan put together respectable teams in Washington? Really? He had 1 winning season, the year after Snyder “forced” him to draft RG3. He won 10 games that year. The other 3 he won 14 combined.

          1. He took a crap team and built it up to those 10 wins. What any team is supposed to do. Build up to success. And what happened after shanny got to win those 10 games? He disagreed with the owner and was let go. Sound familiar?

            1. Actually. He went 3-13.

              Jim Zorn had a better 2 year run than “Shanny’s” first 2.

              1. That 3-13 season came when a good QB was injured and he was stuck with a Blaine gabbert Esq QB.. I’m sticking to my statement. We will agree to disagree

              2. Zorn won 12 games in 2 seasons. Shanahan barely beat that in 3 seasons.

                If he wasn’t “forced” to draft Bob Griffin he very likely doesn’t even have a single winning season.

                That 2012 season saw guys like Griffin and Kaepernick surprise the league which then adjusted.

              3. So 21 wins is barely beating 12 wins? And Mike had 11… You make it seem like Zorn was ahead 12-3.

              4. Read my comment again. Shanahan was in Washington for 4 years. First 2 he won 11 games, worse than the previous 2 under Zorn. Then he was “forced” to draft Griffin, won 10, and then went back down to 3.

                With the exception of that year when Griffin was able to surprise the league with some college stuff they hadn’t seen before, Shanny won a total of 14 games. Only 2 better than Zorn did the 2 years before Shanahan was hired.

            2. I read your comment, and before he had a good QB he won 11 games. He finally got a good QB and his wins went up to 10. When rg3 was lost to injury he went back down to 3. Because like u state, “before rg3”, he had anon number 1 behind center. That has way more to do with 3 wins.

              1. Griffin was 3-10 that last year and Cousins, the guy Shanny supposedly wanted, was 0-3.

  28. Mcdaniels has to be the front runner IMO…. What a great late Christmas ?!!!!! A whole new direction. Can’t ask for anything more.

    1. McDaniels and Joseph are names that have been floated around about working in SF since the Harbaugh debacle.

  29. Reports are saying Baalke has been told that he is a goner ? But Chip has a meeting after the game and has not been told anything. Will we get another email from Jed and the Dorks apologizing and that they will fix it lol.

    1. Michael

      Good anticipation…I’m of the same opinion. I’m hearing a lot from bloggers and non-respected sports journalists who are like pirrhauna…looking for a ‘splash’ story or trying to create one….let’s wait and see….

  30. BTW: We have not posted the update on the group fantasy league in a few weeks. Going into today JPN001 and Rocket are tied with 152 points. D Rogue is at 151. I am two points behind at 150. I should be at 151 points but I forgot to make the pick in the Seahawks Rams Thursday night game a couple of weeks ago. It should have been the easiest pick of the year. Oh well.

    I am going to go against the grain today hoping for a bunch of upsets to pick up the two points.

    1. Sounds like the defamation of Baalke has begun. Other reports have York blocking Gase’s hiring by forcing Tomsula as DC.

      1. “Other reports have York blocking Gase’s hiring by forcing Tomsula as DC.”
        ————————–
        Wilson, which reports are those?

        1. Here ya go CFC.

          http://www.49erswebzone.com/commentary/1636-firing-trent-baalke-part-two-case-keeping/

          In 2015, Baalke conducted an exhaustive coaching search. He appeared to zero in on Adam Gase as his primary target. Baalke spoke with Gase for as long as twelve hours for the first interview, then returned for a follow-up interview that lasted up to eight hours. He even interviewed Peyton Manning to gain more perspective on Gase as a strategist and teacher. By nearly all accounts, Baalke was prepared to offer Gase the job (and Gase was prepared to accept), then Jed York called Gase to inform him that the 49ers were promoting Jim Tomsula to head coach. As reports emerge later, it became probable that York insisted that Gase accept Tomsula as his defensive coordinator, even though he had no experience in that role. Gase logically preferred to retain Vic Fangio, who had been coordinating top-5 defenses for the 49ers since 2011. Gase declined to accept York’s conditions, and he is now a leading candidate for the NFL Coach of the Year award as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

        2. Tim Kawakami suspected the same thing. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2016/01/02/jed-york-4/

          Tim K.
          I would bet that Baalke has (gently) told the Yorks that they picked Tomsula last year, and Tomsula was the wrong choice.

          I would bet that Baalke pointed out that he wanted to hire Adam Gase and only lost him when theYorks insisted that Tomsula had to be Gase’s defensive coordinator and Gase walked away.

          And now, after a starring role as Chicago’s offensive coordinator, Gase is one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in the league–so hot that the 49ers almost certainly will have no shot at him.

          But Baalke can tell the Yorks: I found Gase, I can find another good offensive-minded coach, and that coach can figure out what we should do at quarterback.

        3. Honestly CFC, I don’t put too much stock in reports on either side of this argument. This happens to fit my preferred version of events. We’ll never know what actually happened. This just seems eerily similar to when JH was fired and they started to leak out reasons to dislike him. This seems to happen when someone falls out of favor with the organization and public opinion is being swayed.

    2. This can’t be true Mid, since it disagrees with my recent post.
      ; -)
      My take is that Trent would’ve been committing career suicide by trusting his fate to Tomsula over Gase. I think he knew better than that and it was foisted on him.
      When that flamed out Jed and Paraag backed off and let him do the next hire, and he had little interest so, settled on Chip.
      To have this account break out now after word of TB’s impending release seems awfully convenient for face savers and blame casters whose jobs are still secure in the FO.
      Not every tidbit reported is due to a deliberate disinformation leak, but this one reeks of it. Smells like a duck, looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.

  31. Great news to start the new year (seriously)!!!! Hopefully Jed will give strong consideration to Trent Kirchner and let him make the decision on who replaces Kelly.

    1. That’s pretty generous of you towards the 49ers offense. 31 is perfect for our defense. Seattle is ranked 1st against the run and 8th against the pass. No Hyde means we’ll see a bunch of Harris and Draughn. I am thinking 12-14 points for us.

      I was looking up the Hawks defensive rankings and has anyone noticed our pass defense is ranked 12th in the league by yards per game?

  32. guess was Gamble in, Chip stays, figure it out next year. I didn’t think Jed had the cohones to do anymore. If he lets Chip go AND is hiring a GM, that says he actually might be serious about winning. That’s all good. But now that he has poisened the well so to speak, who can he attract that is the right group (not simply available league retreads) that can really get the job done? Time will tell. Who is our McKenzie/Del Rio?

  33. Two years of asking to be rid of Baalke and its finally, finally happening.

    Too bad it had to take them this long to see how bad he is.

  34. Browns leading 14-0?

    New GM and Coach AND the #1 pick? Looks like 2017 is going a long way to make up for it’s predecessors mistakes.

  35. Guess the leaks continue, but the report that Baalke is out, but Chip will be told his fate after the game, makes me feel better, because maybe Chip can rally the team, get a win and manage a reprieve.

    With a 2-13 record, most teams would be splintered apart, but this one sounds tight and bonded together. If Chip is responsible, maybe Jed will realize how important that is, and give Chip another year.

    Just as long as Baalke is gone, I am happy.

        1. You’re assuming Kaep wants to stay and that another GM would want him. That’s a lot of speculation.

            1. Not me. I don’t have a lot of faith that the York’s can find someone to fix this mess or to actually let them do their job. They love in house people they trust and then swing wildly to someone else or another model without realizing its their own issues they need to fix. This is the swing away from in house people.

    1. Dumb.
      The outcome of the last game of the year in a miserable season should not be the determining factor in whether or not to retain a Head Coach. You don’t rate a high end Prix Fixe dinner based on how you like the mint delivered with the bill.
      How’d that work for Jed in hiring Singletary?

      1. How did that end with Singletary? He, too was fired before his last game. Just a York specialty.

      2. “You don’t rate a high end Prix Fixe dinner based on how you like the mint delivered with the bill.”

        LOL. Cereal all over my computer screen. Thanks a lot.

  36. I was open-minded about chip’s hiring, and I love the sports science stuff, but I’m glad he’s on his way out. Nice guy, all the best, just not a good NFL coach.

  37. Let’s predict the game grades:

    Overall: A – If Niners get pay back for injury to Ian Williams win or lose.
    Overall: F – game goes as planned, and Carroll gets a bye in a blowout.
    Coaching: Who cares?

    1) DBs: C-. Robinson will get one pick; but Bethea and Brock give up a TD each.
    2) Linebackers: Incomplete. Third down crossing patterns to TE and RBs will be easy.
    3) D-line B-, with Buckner having a sack; Seattle’s O-line sucks, hence the minus.
    4) O-line C-, would have been a D, but Trent Brown steamrolls a linebacker on a third and nine for an eight yard gain. (If it’s a steamrolled Sherman, the grade goes to a “B,” just ‘cuz).
    5) Running back(s) C. (bored as hell and starters out; Niners gain 55 yards in Q4.
    6) QB: Nobody cares; expelled from class. Not one QB whom started for Niners will be back.
    7) Receivers: C. Streater will get open.

  38. Wonder if Jed’s presser will be held in his cabana? With Girl Scout cookies as treats.

  39. I want Kyle Shanahan as HC. My GM choice would be Pioli. But if Kyle insists on Big Shanny for GM then do it.

    My second choice would be Wolf as GM and Holmgren as HC. I don’t think Holmgren would want to coach more than 3 or 4 years. He and Wolf would hire a good staff with a potential successor.

    Shanahan and Holmgren are willing to work for the Yorks. We have limited options. Unless Jed coughs up an obscene amount of money, that is not likely.

    SF 13
    Sea 24

  40. Michael Silver – “Chip Kelly called 49ers owner Jed York last night after reports broke of his impending firing. It was not a warm and fuzzy conversation.”

    This is sounding as clumsy as the Mariucci firing.

  41. This whole Gase thing is yet another York leak. Why would anyone work for this clown? Does Jed not understand he is in the pool that he is pissing in?

    1. +100. Gase has 8 hour interview with Baalke. All seems set. Then Gase gets a phone call demanding Tomsula (not Famgio) as DC. Gase wanted Fangio. The deal falls apart.

      Lets say there were truly irreparable differences between Harbaugh and York. The next best option was Gase HC, Fangio DC. Instead…

      The best shakeup that can improve the 49ers is for Jed to step down or have a significantly reduced role.

      1. I think the leaking, scapegoating and Chip having to call to see if he’s fired show that the fundamental problems remain. Treacherous back stabbers. There is sufficient reason to fire Trent for not stocking the roster, no need to plant stuff on him.
        Jed thinks he can transfer blame. He’s missed an opportunity to learn from his mistake. I have no confidence in him avoiding them going forward. I should feel encouraged by the change.

        1. Nailed it. The Yorks have all the impulsiveness of Eddie Debartolo, but little of his enthusiasm, humanity and affection for the players.

  42. The finger pointing about Gase and keeping Kelly hanging is not surprising. Since the Yorks took over the team the team has been plagued by unprofessional management behavior and press leaks to deflect responsibility. So I have little faith the Yorks will hire a strong GM who will shake things up and run the football operations in a manner that could make the Yorks or their business people uncomfortable. Hope I am wrong.

  43. Skip a meaningless NFL game to stay healthy for a playoff game: GOOD

    Skip a meaningless bowl game to stay healthy for an entire career: BAD

    1. Just get rid of college football. It’s all about money. A lot of the players are all about money. Just have the combine and pro day. No injuries, and nobody getting taken advantage of by money grubbing colleges.

    2. Yup, that’s the line that NFL and their minor league, the College Football Industrial complex, needs the fans to swallow in order to keep the machine running smoothly.

      1. Does anybody know if college players could unionize? Give them a salary and let them sell their stuff. Make it a business arrangement for both sides. Have a cap so teams in theory couldn’t buy a championship.

        The players under a contract would be obligated to play in bowl games. The schools wouldn’t make as much money but the current situation is becoming untenable.

        1. 80-
          Some athletes sued and lost in an attempt. Maybe kids from Northwestern..? Within the last 10 years I think.

  44. Skip a meaningless NFL game to stay healthy for a playoff game: GOOD

    Player is ordered by HC as part of a strategy

    Skip a meaningless bowl game to stay healthy for an entire career: BAD

    Player makes his own decision

    1. Razor,

      Good call on Cook last week. I tend to underrate FSU guys for some reason. Cook is a dual threat back and has a passion for competition. His Orange Bowl performance put more dollars in his bank account. It wouldn’t surprise me if he gets picked ahead of Fournette.

  45. Change can be good and we all want better for our beloved team, hate to be Debbie Downer but you all realize these factors right?

    1. Success starts at the top, and at the top we have John and Jedd York doing there”Big Enos and Little Enos” impersonations from Smokey and the bandit.

    2. No good starting QBor prospect?
    3. No star or franchise player to build around!
    4. If we get Garrett , good start but steelers scored and I am sure the Browns do not want to lose them, if it is a tie for worst record, coin flip or percentage record deal?
    5. Need some one like Reggie Mckenzie and patience for a five year rebuild.
    6. Can anyone be that patient.

    Please prove me wrong or how we can be competative sooner!

  46. Don’t understand your fantasy with Nick Saban, why would he go from a top dog in the College ranks to a crappy 49er team with incompetent ownership? I don’t think he would take the job for $10 mill a season. There are challenges and then there are impossibilities. We are going to have to get a running back coach or a d line coach as the next head coach to this crappy organization

  47. Cle has a very good chance to pull it out…………….. Can all of the college experts confirm that Garrett is the consensus #1 and that much better than Allen. ?

  48. I’d take Eliot Wolf and Darrell Bevell. Many interesting possibilities, but both of those guys could do wonders.

    And short of offsets, York could be paying out $40 million to Chip Kelly and Jim Tomsula combined for 2 years coaching. Great job, Trent and Jed.

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