The #49ers are expected to meet with and make a final push for #Broncos OC Adam Gase tonight, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 12, 2015
NEW INFO: Entire Broncos coaching staff let go. Not just John Fox. All assistants gone according to several players.
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) January 12, 2015
Proactive move by #49ers to try to meet with Adam Gase before drama went down in Denver. No word on whether the meeting takes place tonight — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 12, 2015
Also. I am told Broncos have told all coaches under contract they are free to explore other options but have not been terminated
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 12, 2015
Hey, when you have a chance to lock down a 36-year-old football coach with two years of experience as an offensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos, you’ve got to jump at that opportunity if you’re the 49ers. Especially after watching that coach’s offense get shellacked yesterday by the aluminum foil curtain known as the Colts defense.
Hmmm. I’ve got some questions.
1. What has Adam Gase really done in Denver?
Peyton Manning supposedly calls his own plays. Gase surely helped design and implement a lot (or all) of those plays, and oversaw Manning’s operation, but it was Manning’s operation. If we’re comparing degrees of difficulty, a move from working with Manning to installing a brand new offense for Colin Kaepernick would be like going from Malibu Grand Prix to Formula 1.
2. Do the 49ers want Gase as their next HC or OC?
¯_(ツ)_/¯
(Some people are hoping that the 49ers are going to promote Vic Fangio and pick his offensive coordinator for him, but I’m going to go ahead and assume they’re considering Gase for the position of head coach.)
3. Would Pete Carroll be happy if the 49ers hired Gase, or would he be ecstatic?
The Broncos scored 28 points, rushed for 63 yards and committed six turnovers in two games against the Seahawks (including the Super Bowl).
4. What’s Gase’s background, exactly?
It looks like he’s a branch from the Mike Martz coaching shrub. Or, as 49ers fans remember Martz, “The J.T. O’Sullivan guy.” Gase worked his way up through the Lions’ system, starting as a scouting assistant in 2003 and serving as the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2007. (Detroit finished 7-9 that season, Martz was the OC, Jon Kitna passed for 4,068 yards, 18 TDs and 20 INTs, and J.T. O’Sullivan completed 13-of-26 passes for 148 yards, with a TD and two INTs.)
He moved to Denver in 2008, where he was the wide receivers coach for two seasons. Then he was the quarterbacks coach in 2011 (Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton) and 2012 (Manning) before getting the promotion to OC.
5. If the 49ers are really interested in Gase, why is that the case?
There’d be something almost perversely funny about Jed York passing over Fangio for Gase at same time he’s being sued for age discrimination — Niners Nation (@NinersNation) January 13, 2015
I never wrote up anything on the lawsuit claiming that York fired aging employees in an attempt to “rebrand” the 49ers as a “startup,” but here’s the story to which David Fucillo is referencing.
