The 49ers made a head coaching change this month when they relieved Jim Tomsula of his duties and gave Chip Kelly a chance to run a second NFL team shortly after the Eagles fired him.
Kelly is now working to put together his coaching staff and it looks like there’s a good chance that he’ll be sticking with at least one of Tomsula’s assistants. Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reports that there is a “strong possibility” that Eric Mangini remains on board as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Mangini spent two years as the tight ends coach with the Niners before moving back to the defensive side of the ball in 2015. It wasn’t a great showing by the unit, although a healthy portion of their shortcomings can be explained as the byproduct of the flood of talent that left the team heading into the 2015 season.
With Kelly’s offense prone to quick drives, his defenses often wind up spending more time on the field than with other clubs. If Kelly feels Mangini can put together a unit to handle that responsibility, there should be some continuity on the staff despite the big change at the top.