The 49ers yesterday named team defensive line coach Jim Tomsula head coach, but his promotion "is certain to be met with skepticism," as of the nine candidates "considered for the job, Tomsula has the least NFL experience and is the only coach who’s never been a coordinator in the league," according to Eric Branch of the S.F. CHRONICLE. It is "not known if the 49ers had a formal interview with Tomsula before making the hire" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/15). In San Jose, Marcus Thompson II writes it is "clear that upper management" had Tomsula "in mind all along, which points to personality taking precedence over experience." Tomsula "might be the soothing ointment needed to mend the relationship between the head coach and management," but his hiring remains "as much about amenability as anything else." Thompson: "This was about comfort and peace in the workplace. That's not inherently wrong. It helps when everyone is on the same page. Such an environment is conducive to success. Who doesn't want to work with people they get along with? But in this case, it could end up costing the 49ers a successful head coach, a top-notch defensive coordinator and leaves them desperate for an offensive coordinator. That's basically an entirely new staff, headed by someone without the usual credentials. That's a hefty price to pay for harmony" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/15).
TOMSULA TOMFOOLERY? In S.F., Al Saracevic in a front-page piece writes the story "goes that the 49ers’ brain trust wanted someone who would work with them more closely, somebody who wouldn’t be as difficult to manage" as former coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly was. If that is "what they were looking for, Tomsula fits the bill." But if team CEO Jed York "truly wants to 'win with class,' as he stated in a recent interview in which he addressed the reasons for Harbaugh’s departure, then Tomsula is an odd choice." Even "more troubling is Tomsula’s reputation as a die-hard company man." Are York and GM Trent Baalke "simply looking for a willing supplicant?" The 49ers now "have a head coach that will let Baalke and York impose their will" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/15). Also in S.F., Ann Killion writes this "is not thinking outside the box," but rather "thinking inside the top drawer of the desk in your favorite corner of the box." It is "easy to be well liked ... when you never have to make decisions that piss off anyone." Killion: "It's a lot different ... with a fan base that has ponied up ridiculous sums of money on the promise of winning. With an owner who demands a Super Bowl victory as the only acceptable measurement of success -- and who isn’t willing to take the blame for any of the failures, or any responsibility for ugly off-field problems" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/15).
