The San Francisco 49ers head coach search might have taken at least a minor hit on Wednesday with word of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers firing Lovie Smith. Adam Schefter is reporting the 49ers requested permission on Tuesday to interview Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but they have not yet been granted permission.
A team has to grant permission for a HC interview if the assistant is interested in interviewing for the job. However, it is possible the Bucs are speaking with Koetter about their own head coach position. There are reports that the Bucs fired Smith in part because they were concerned about losing Koetter to the Dolphins job. This report of the 49ers own interest might extend that to the Bucs just being concerned about losing him at all.
The whole situation is really odd. The Bucs showed improvement with Jameis Winston. They could have done better, but given that they were 2-14 a year ago, I'd say Smith deserved at least one more year. But if the Bucs were concerned about losing Koetter and the impact on Jameis Winston, I guess they felt they had to make a slightly impetuous move.
Koetter is just the latest offensive-minded coach on the 49ers radar. He has been an NFL offensive coordinator since 2007, prior to which he was head coach at Arizona State and Boise State.