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ESPN's Bill Williamson is reporting a league source said "some teams...are beginning to do background work on defensive line coach Jim Tomsula." Earlier Monday, Adam Caplan provided broader speculation, stating that Tomsula "could receive attention" in coming weeks.
Coach Tomsula lacks coordinator experience, but he has NFL Europe head coaching experience, he is a proven wizard with the defensive line, and he is beloved by his players. And of course, he remains the only undefeated coach in 49ers history!
Even though Tomsula does not have the traditional coordinator experience that gets coaches into head coach roles, he would seem to have the enthusiasm to handle the role of a head coach. It's different from being a position coach, but with the respect he commands, he could be in a position to find success as a head coach.
These are only rumors, and merely background work at the moment. Teams cannot interview Wild Card playing assistant coaches until after this weekend's games. They need to ask permission to interview these assistants as well. I don't view this as a shocking development at this point. Background work makes sense for any potential candidate, no matter where they are on the priority list. Maybe he's high up, maybe not. For now, teams are doing their due diligence.
At some point however, I have to think somebody gives Jim Tomsula a chance as a head coach. There were rumors that he was connected with the Pitt job a couple years back, but his daughter told our own Tre9er (on the NN podcast) that the Pitt rumor was likely nothing more than a rumor. Last month, Tre had a chance to talk with Coach Tomsula's daughter on the NN podcast. I've embedded the full audio below. It's a great listen.