49ers team president Jed York isn’t wasting any time looking for a general manager. He’s already reached out to a few people.
“You can probably figure out some people we’ve talked to,” York said at his press conference Monday.
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network mentioned experienced guys who have done the job before like Floyd Reese, Randy Mueller and Ted Sundquist as candidates for the job. York said that the G.M. he hires will have full control to hire the next coach, although it sounds like York has an idea of what direction he’d like things to go.
“I wouldn’t say we are strictly looking at an offensive-minded head coach,” York said. “But we’ve had a lot of problems on the offensive side of the ball.”
The 49ers hired Mike Nolan before G.M. Scot McCloughan a few years back, a combination that didn’t work. They have changed the coaching position and G.M. spot since without really changing much of anything. (Mike Singletary was a coach under Nolan. Current personnel chief Trent Baalke replaced McCloughan suddenly before the draft.)
York knows where he’s going to get advice for his decision.
“My uncle is probably the best person out there for me to talk to,” York said in reference to Eddie Debartalo Jr.
The 49ers decided to cut bait with Singletary a week earlier, perhaps in hopes of giving a beaten down fanbase some hope for a fresh start. It showed the younger York is now in control and not content with dysfunction on the team.
The reality is that the York family has not earned the benefit of the doubt to this point. This has been one of the worst franchises in the NFL over the last decade.
Only wins, not press conferences, can change that.