Search for San Francisco’s O-coordinator should start in Atlanta

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Wednesday, January 07, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Now that the world knows what San Francisco 49ers fans knew right after the regular season ended – that offensive coordinator Mike Martz would be fired – what happens next?

Where does head coach Mike Singletary look to find a capable man to lead the offense in 2009? Which candidates are the most viable fit for the 49ers and quarterback Shaun Hill?

There have been stories published on the Internet talking about a wish list for the 49ers that has fired Denver coach Mike Shanahan at the top. Anyone who thinks that Shanahan would even consider taking a coordinator’s position after leading the Broncos for the past 14 years isn’t playing with a full deck.

Shanahan doesn’t need the money and he isn’t going to jump back into a coordinator’s position just to get a job. San Francisco fans also need to realize that an NFL offensive coordinator is probably not going to leave his current position to make a lateral move to the 49ers.

Thus, San Francisco is going to have to get a current NFL quarterbacks coach or a college head coach or offensive coordinator to lead its attack. Where does that leave the search, then?

How about these candidates?

· Bill Musgrave, quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons – San Francisco fans should remember Musgrave, who played quarterback for the 49ers from 1991-94. He was definitely an average Joe as a player, not a Joe Montana. As a coach, though, Musgrave helped mold rookie Matt Ryan in Atlanta into the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year this season. He has been coaching in the NFL for the past 12 years and seems ready to take the next step up the ladder.

· Jeff Rutledge, quarterbacks coach for the Arizona Cardinals – Rutledge may not be familiar with casual NFL fans, but he helped lead the Cardinals to the second-ranked passing offense in the NFL this season. Rutledge played quarterback for the University of Alabama from 1975-78 and for three NFL teams from 1979-1992.

· Pete Carmichael Jr., quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints – Carmichael is in line to be named offensive coordinator for the Saints after former play-caller Doug Marrone was named head coach of Syracuse University; thus, the chances of him coming to the 49ers seem slim. Carmichael helped lead Drew Brees and the Saints’ passing game to the top spot in the NFL last season. New Orleans led the NFL with an average of 311.1 passing yards per game.

· Kevin Sumlin, head coach for the University of Houston – Sumlin, the first-year head man for the Cougars, helped lead the school to some prolific offensive numbers in his inaugural campaign. Houston finished second in the nation in total offense, averaging 562.7 yards per game. Prior to taking over at Houston, Sumlin spent five seasons at the University of Oklahoma (the last two as co-offensive coordinator).


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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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