CBS sideline reporter Jay Feely said that he spoke with 49ers COO Al Guido prior to the team's game yesterday against the Bengals, adding that he "believes coach Jim Tomsula will return" next year, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBAYAREA.com. Asked about the report after the game, 49ers CEO Jed York said, "We'll talk about everything at the end of the season." Maiocco noted Guido "appears to be the likely candidate to replace" 49ers President Paraag Marathe, who is taking on a larger role in outside business interests (CSNBAYAREA.com, 12/20). In San Jose, Tim Kawakami asks the question, "Have the 49ers ever looked less glamorous?" The "obvious answer: No, the 2015 49ers are the deadly dullest and least ambitious edition of this team in anybody's memory." The scene yesterday was a "sleepy Levi's Stadium" as the team honored HOFers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, as well as "several other Super Bowl legends." Former Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. and other "49ers greats left the stadium without comment." Kawakami: "They didn't need to. Their presence -- and the current team's lack of it -- was impossible to miss." There is a "massive credibility void." There is "no spark, no leadership, no strategic advantage and very often essentially no home-field advantage at Levi's." The venue yesterday was "all but empty by the third quarter." 49ers WR Torrey Smith: "We love the fans to death, but when you play in an empty stadium ... I don't blame them." Kawakami notes there was "another plane flying another banner" before the game "taking a swipe" at York. This one read, "Hold Jed accountable." Kawakami writes of the team, "They are boring, they are bad, and they are the furthest thing from what they used to be, when the 49ers really mattered" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/21).
