The San Francisco 49ers have begun their process for finding a new head coach, and rumors will develop sooner rather than later connecting them to interviews. They have already been connected by rumors to Sean Payton, Chip Kelly, Mike Holmgren, and Mike Shanahan. On Monday, we also learned the team has reportedly requested permission to interviewCincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. Trent Baalke and Jed York would not comment on the rumors, but at some point interview rumors will leak.
We'll be tracking all the rumors, but before things really get going, I thought it would make sense to at least come up with some semblance of a list of candidates. The list below comes courtesy of the sources linked, and some random searching around. At this point it does not include college coaches like Kevin Sumlin, Brian Kelly, and David Shaw. Tim Kawakami also threw out Mike Nolan as a potential candidate given the Yorks fondness for him. I'm keeping him out for now unless people think he could actually be a possibility.
Feel free to drop in additional names in the comments, and I'll update the list. I think Adam Gase is unlikely to even interview with the 49ers, but I decided to include him for now. Some of these names will not even end up interviewing for jobs anywhere, but again, it's a starting point.
Resources: MMQB | Tim Kawakami | Cam Inman
Teryl Austin - Detroit Lions DC
Darrell Bevell - Seattle Seahawks OC
Tom Cable - Seattle Seahawks OL coach
Adam Gase - Chicago Bears OC
Todd Haley - Pittsburgh Steelers OC
Mike Holmgren - unemployed
Hue Jackson - Cincinnati Bengals OC
Chip Kelly - unemployed
Dirk Koetter - Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC
Doug Marrone - Jacksonville Jaguars assistant HC/OL coach
Josh McDaniels - New England Patriots OC
Sean McDermott - Carolina Panthers DC
Jim Mora, Jr. - UCLA HC
Matt Patricia - New England Patriots DC
Sean Payton - New Orleans Saints HC
Jim Schwartz - unemployed
Kyle Shanahan - Atlanta Falcons OC
Mike Shanahan - unemployed
Mike Shula - Carolina Panthers OC