49ers head coach search: Team requests permission to interview Adam Gase

The San Francisco 49ers have requested permission from the Denver Broncos to interview offensive coordinator Adam Gase, according to Broncos beat writer Mike Klis. Gase has two years OC experience in Denver, and before that was QB coach in 2011 and 2012, and WR coach in 2009 and 2010. He spent one season as an offensive assistant with the 49ers during Mike Martz's brief OC tenure.

The Broncos are currently in the playoffs, but because they have a bye this week, their coaches can interview. The NFL allows bye week team coaches to interview through this Sunday. Coaches on wild card teams that win this weekend can interview next week through the end of that Sunday. There are no more interviews with coaches on live playoff teams until the week between the conference championships and Super Bowl.

Gase has been getting plenty of publicity due to the Broncos high-powered attack. Of course, he also has quarterback Peyton Manning, so it is not a simple matter of separating out who is responsible for what. I spoke with our friends at Mile High Report to get their thoughts on Gase. They had the following:

A premiere head coaching candidate, the Broncos' OC has interviewed for head coaching jobs in each of the past two offseasons. His resume is impressive when you consider he was the QB Coach for both Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning and won the AFC West in every year as QB coach/OC. As OC since 2013, he and Manning broke all the records in his first year, and there were rumors the Cleveland Browns were willing to wait for Gase and the Broncos to finish their postseason run to hire him. He was that in-demand.

A lot of what Manning does is all Manning. But in Gase's first year as offensive coordinator, he and Peyton broke all the records and got the Broncos to the Super Bowl. Now he's leading a run-first offense as the Broncos go for another playoff run. Even though he's only 36 years old, his success speaks for itself.

I had previously asked them for thoughts on former Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels (see HERE), but I also was curious about their thoughts on McDaniels vs. Gase. They thought McDaniels would be better, but I am certainly curious if they would prefer to just keep Gase running their offense. Here is what they said:

If you asked me to put on my San Francisco 49ers hat and pick one of these two guys, I would go with Josh McDaniels. As much as the man is reviled out here in Broncos Country, I understand that people learn from past mistakes. The experience that McDaniels gained from his failure in Denver will only make him a better coach the next time he gets a shot. Adam Gase only has Peyton Manning to draw experience from and his challenge will be going from that kind of work ethic to Colin Kaepernick, who seems to be less studious than he could be.