On the eve of Black Monday, whispers are already swirling that San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula will be fired at the season's disappointing close. The 49ers record speaks for itself. After massive defections in the offseason, the team was unable to produce the results Jed York had promised to the fans. When you dig deeper into the stats, it doesn’t get any prettier. The team has failed to be effective offensively, and the defense, which had been the powerful mainstay of the franchise, has been wildly inconsistent.
This rumor, however, still comes as a surprise. Tomsula was hand picked by the front office and if they send him packing, it is an admission of sorts that they made a mistake. The lack of offensive production and regression of Colin Kaepernick led to an expectation that there would, more than likely, be changes on the offensive side of the coaching staff, but now it appears that even bigger changes are afoot.
Why is it a surprise? Because Jim Tomsula was their guy. Because firing a coach after one year is embarrassing. Because it shows instability in the franchise that looks unattractive to coaching candidates. Because if the team remained competitive, he was supposed to keep his job.
Does Tomsula deserve this? Maybe. Maybe not. He was dealt a weak hand and didn't have much experience on how to deal with it. The roster looked completely different at the beginning of 2015 than it did in 2014 and the current starting offense has very few members left from the start of the season. The backup QB is starting, the running backs are virtual unknowns, there are two TEs left from the group that was deemed the deepest and most talented at the beginning of the season and the offensive line has been challenged at best. Regardless, it looks as though Head Coach Watch 2016 has begun.