Last week, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York told local media that he would eventually speak with them, but he did not feel it was proper to discuss football during the season. Make of that what you will, but I suppose we are left without any public-facing comments to local media until after the season.
In contrast, Kansas City Chiefs owner spoke to the media this past weekend to declare that head coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey will remain with the team into 2016. He emphasized that even if the team ends up with a top 5 or top 10 pick, they were his guys.
These are not identical situations, but it does still make for an interesting comparison. The Chiefs have now won two straight, defeating the Detroit Lions following these comments. They preceded that with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the Steelers last game before Ben Roethlisberger returns. The Chiefs are not a good team, but a couple wins will give some folks some confidence about them. In reality, they have plenty of issues to sort through.
Jed York is not speaking with local media, and I imagine part of that is because he really can't provide the kinds of answers people want. York's comment about not speaking came before Colin Kaepernick was benched, but it is safe to say he won't be giving his quarterback a vote of confidence anytime soon.
As for the futures of Jim Tomsula and Trent Baalke? I continue to think Tomsula and Baalke are not going anywhere after this season. I figure York rolled the dice on Tomsula and is not going to take the ego hit of firing him after just one season. And depending on what reports you believe, Baalke is connected to York at the hip. However, Jed choosing not to give a vote of confidence for either Tomsula or Baalke just reflects that he might simply want to leave open the chance to change his mind. It will be particularly interesting to see how that decision-making goes down if the 49ers finish the season anywhere around 2-14 to 4-12.