With no General Manager in San Francisco and Trent Baalke elevated to the position of V.P. of player personnel, team president and CEO Jed York said Thursday that coach Mike Singletary will have control over the team’s 53-man roster.
As it turns out, it’s not a new development. York explained that Singletary previously has had control over the 53-man roster. Asked how long that’s been the case, York said that Singetary has had that power since he became the head coach.
But Baalke won’t be powerless. York said that the new V.P. of player personnel be in charge of the draft and trade.
It gets interesting when it comes to free agency. York said that Baalke and Singletary will work together. Still, York didn’t explain what will happen if Baalke and Singletary disagree.
Also, York said that Singletary will have the power to hire and fire the members of the coaching staff, as he always has had. Pressed as to the identity of the person who’ll have the ability to fire the head coach, York finally said, “The head coach, because he’s gonna keep winning.”
It provoked a laugh, but the bottom line here is that Jed York will now be a key player in the power structure of the football operations. York, Singletary, and V.P. of football operations Paraag Marathe each report to York, and York mentioned at one point that he’ll have final say over all coaching staff hires.
Presumably, York will be the one to break any ties or resolve any disagreements that may arise among a trio of men who report directly to York.
Thus, even though the 49ers don’t have a General Manager in the traditional sense, the power ultimately rests with Jed York. Then again, as a practical matter that’s the case with every football team or, for that matter, every business. The guy in charge has the power to do whatever he wants. Still, in this case York has created a structure that could result in his employees periodically coming to him in order to help provide some rock-scissors-paper clarity to the situation, since no one beneath York has the clear ability to make the final call.