As the NFL moves towards its conclusion with the Super Bowl in a week and a half, teams with fired coaches have moved to wrap up their coaching hires. The latest news indicates the Indianapolis Colts have hired Ravens DC Chuck Pagano while the Oakland Raiders have hired Broncos DC Dennis Allen. They join Jeff Fisher (Rams), Joe Philbin (Dolphins), Romeo Crennel (Chiefs) and Mike Mularkey (Jaguars) as "new" head coaches in 2012.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still looking for a new coach but seem to be nearing finalists, with no 49ers candidates mentioned among them. The Colts were reportedly going to interview special teams coordinator Brad Seely, but whether they did or not, he would seem to be off the list. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman interviewed for the Penn State job, but that also went to another person.
As we move towards the 2012 season, much of the coaching staff looks like it will be retained. There is a chance an assistant could try to get a promotion into an OC or DC position with one of these new staffs, but there is no news to indicate that is happening at this point. The 49ers coaching staff had some downs to go with a lot of ups in 2011, but the team is moving in the right direction. Give this group a full offseason to work together and I can't help but be optimistic moving forward.