The San Francisco 49ers will not be hiring Josh McDaniels for their head coach position, and the New England Patriots offensive coordinator had some compliments to offer the organization, per Patriots writer Mike Reiss. He spoke to the media on a conference call Monday as the Patriots begin preparations for the AFC title game.
"I was really impressed with Jed York and Paraag [Marathe], and Brian, and people that came for the 49ers organization. They did a great job with their presentation. Again, humbled to be included in that process. At this time, it's just best for my family and myself to remain here in New England, and focus on this year's playoffs and finish out the year however it turns out."
The most interesting part of this might be the revelation that Brian Hampton is involved in the interview process. Hampton’s title with the 49ers is director of football administration and analytics. Previously, socalisteph wrote about the 49ers and Jed’s love of analytics, and Hampton’s inclusion in the process would add further credence to this.
McDaniels has been connected with Louis Riddick in the media, but this would seemingly be a blow to the latter’s shot at the GM role. If the 49ers were to hire Tom Cable, the Seahawks executives would be the likely GM candidates. However, Adam Schefter is reporting the team has honed in on Kyle Shanahan. There’s some thought that he might be paired with Cardinals VP Terry McDonough, but either Packers candidate (Eliot Wolf, Brian Gutekunst) could very well work with him. And we don’t really know how much control he would want vs. what McDaniels would have wanted.
The 49ers could still end up with a solid HC/GM combo, but how that is going to play out remains to be seen. If it ends up Shanahan, the GM candidates on the board all offer something positive. I can live with that as long as it means Tom Cable does not get the job.