The 49ers didn’t land Mike Vrabel as their defensive coordinator and Eric Mangini won’t be back with the team, which means the search still goes on for a defensive leader on Chip Kelly’s coaching staff.
That search reportedly includes former Browns defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report reported over the weekend that the 49ers have interest in O’Neil and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports O’Neil interviewed for the job recently.
O’Neil spent the last two years as Mike Pettine’s defensive coordinator in Cleveland and coached with Pettine, whose father coached O’Neil in high school, with both the Jets and Bills before making the move to the Browns.
Jason Tarver, who coached the 49ers linebackers last year and was the Raiders defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2014, and Ravens inside linebackers coach Don Martindale have also been mentioned as candidates for the coordinator position.