49ers coaching search has entered the Thunderdome

Fooch's Note: I'll go ahead and turn off site decorum

I set up an open thread a little bit ago as we appeared to be coming down the home stretch in the San Francisco 49ers coaching search. There has been no real significant news since then, but the chase continues. The most recent "information" is Matt Maiocco's tweet tweeting that his sources say they expect the 49ers to go with Jim Tomsula or Adam Gase. That followed word that Gase was still talking with the Broncos in Denver, and that Trent Baalke was going to speak with Gase on the phone at some point today.

After two weeks of sort of meandering through the coaching process, it would seem we have entered Thunderdome as we sort of kind of eventually close this thing out. I have a couple ideas how this might end. I do agree that it probably ends up as Gase or Tomsula. Vic Fangio, Dan Quinn and Mike Shanahan are names people have thrown around (and probably will continue to throw around), but I see it as Gase or Tomsula.

I also see it as a potential referendum on where Baalke is in this process. There has been speculation about where Tomsula sits in this process, with some scuttlebutt indicating he is Jed York's preferred choice. It is certainly possible Baalke would be down with Tomsula as the next head coach, but hiring Gase would tell me more about Baalke's power in this whole situation. We will never everything for certain, but it will be interesting to see reactions if Tomsula ends up getting the job.