The San Francisco 49ers 2015 coaching staff continues to slowly depart for new jobs. Tony Sparano is expected to join the Minnesota Vikings as their offensive line coach. He coached the 49ers tight ends last season, and was the Raiders offensive line coach in 2013 and 2014.
It is not surprising 49ers coaches are departing. Trent Baalke said the team is not doing any internal interviews (we'll see if that changes as this process continues), and I can't imagine the assistants would want to roll the dice on a new coach wanting them back. I could see Tom Rathman returning given that he seems firmly embedded with the 49ers, but otherwise, it's every man for himself.
Speaking of assistant coaches, Cam Inman brought up an excellent point about a significant issue with the delay in finding the next head coach:
As major a deal it is to hire a HC, staff becomes pressing issue as these other jobs get filled. Now Dolphins, Browns can get head start
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) January 13, 2016
If the 49ers bring in a Tom Coughlin, the search for assistants might not be the toughest issue. Coughlin is respected around the league, and has enough experience that he could probably convince some quality assistants to join him. That being said, if this thing drags into the weekend or into next week, potential assistants could end up getting locked up before the 49ers new head coach has a chance to talk with them. The timeline grows more and more important.