In case you haven’t followed the latest in college football, the North Carolina Tar Heels and head coach Bill Belichick are already crafting joint statements after his underwhelming start in Chapel Hill.
With a 2-3 record, most recently a 38-10 loss at the hands of Clemson, calling it “underwhelming” is probably a bit generous.
That situation was going to work wonders for the coach and the program — said no one ever
In any case, the joint statements supporting the head coach and program for damage control came, and here we are. On Jim Rome’s After Hour program, Adam Rank began ranking the top-five football coaching disasters in college and pro football.
“Great,” I said. “I wonder what 49ers disaster ranks on this list?”
As I looked back at all those ill-advised and downright boneheaded decisions, like the Steve Mariucci debacle or Chip Kelly,I realized that not only did the 49ers have numerous disasters that could make this list, but most of them happened under the York family’s ownership. The one blunder I determined would make this list was Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers parting ways, only for the latter to replace the former with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula.
Number five came in with Adam Gase going to the Miami Dolphins and then the New York Jets.
“Yeah, Tomsula is going in at No. 2,” I said.
When Rank read the rest, I was shocked — Tomsula wasn’t even on the list. Here’s his top five:
- Bill Belichick resigning from the Jets via a napkin.
- Urban Meyer at the Jaguars
- Bobby Petrino starting with the Atlanta Falcons, then leaving for Arkansas (and notifying players via letter on their lockers)
- Adam Gase going to the Dolphins AND THEN the Jets
- Mike Price going to Alabama
I mean, it’s nice to know they were not making fun of it. We as fans had to live this—and it wasn’t fun. It’s why I tell everyone you don’t want to fire Kyle Shanahan, because we lived this and know how bad it can be. At the same time, how does Tomsula not make this list? As I said, the 49ers could make the list with the York decisions alone before Jed York grew into his role as CEO.
For a quick refresher: Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke locked horns almost immediately after the former was hired. This tension lasted a couple of years, and then, after a lot of drama, leaks, and posts on X, the relationship between Harbaugh and the 49ers ended.
That alone isn’t enough. There’s been plenty of decisions like that over the life of the NFL. What comes next is what puts it into one of the worst decisions in football, period. The 49ers had a strong roster and were seen as an attractive opportunity for any head coach candidate that year. Word on the street was that Adam Gase got the job. At the very last second, the 49ers made an abrupt change and instead promoted defensive line coordinator Jim Tomsula.
The Detroit Lions have Dan Campbell as their head coach, a person with little coordinator experience, but that’s the exception to the rule. Typically, going this route means a smaller pool of coordinators and assistants, since few want to work under someone who never paid their dues as a coordinator. What’s baffling is that the 49ers did this once already with Mike Singletary and didn’t learn their lesson.
As you might expect, Tomsula was a disaster. He turned in the worst offense in team history, a defense not far behind, stunted any possible resurgence of Colin Kaepernick, and gave us Fartgate. Oh, and there’s the press conference.
Say what you want about Adam Gase now, but back then, he was on a successful Denver Broncos team that made more sense than the defensive line coach who had no coordinator experience.
Hey, I’m thankful the 49ers didn’t make that list — but I’m also shocked they didn’t. It got me thinking: after all the questionable hires and painful decisions we’ve seen as fans, which ones do you think belong on it? I’d put the Harbaugh/Tomsula fiasco onto No. 4 and remove the Adam Gase hire(s) completely. We’ve seen the Gase situation happen before (again, 49ers with Chip Kelly).
What 49ers coaching disasters would you put on that list? Or, what are your top-five 49ers coaching disasters in particular?
