SANTA CLARA – The 49ers began interviewing for their vacant offensive coordinator position Friday, opening their doors for Colts wide receivers coach Clyde Christensen and former Rams coach Scott Linehan.
At least one more candidate, former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, 40, is expected to interview for the job today.
Christensen, 52, is perhaps the least well known of the trio. He's coached the Colts' talented receiving corps for seven seasons and was Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator in 2001. The Buccaneers ended that season ranked 26th in total offense.
Christensen is an interesting candidate considering 49ers coach Mike Singletary is looking for a smash-mouth running attack, while the Colts' and Christensen's strength is the passing game. Indianapolis has ranked no lower than sixth in passing yardage since Christensen has coached the receivers. The Colts' running game, however, ranked 31st last season.
Linehan was fired by the Rams only four games into the 2008 season, and he left having alienated quarterback Marc Bulger and running back Steven Jackson.
However, he has more experience running an NFL offense than the other two candidates, having done so in Minnesota and Miami before St. Louis hired him as head coach in 2006.
In Minnesota, Linehan inherited a rushing attack that ranked 26th in 2001 and turned it into the league's second-best ground attack in 2002. Overall, Minnesota's offense ranked no worse than No. 4 in the three seasons Linehan was there.
He performed a similar feat in Miami in 2005, taking the 29th-best offense and turning it into the 14th-best. The Dolphins' running game improved from No. 31 to No. 12.
Linehan's Rams made marginal gains in 2006, but they regressed badly in an injury-plagued 2007 season. Things grew even worse this past season. The Rams lost four lopsided games to start the season, and Linehan benched Bulger, an unpopular move in the locker room.
Chudzinski, meanwhile, was viewed as an up-and-coming assistant in 2007 when, in his first season as offensive coordinator, the Browns finished with the eighth-best offense after finishing No. 31 the year before.
This year, however, injuries and a revolving door at quarterback left Cleveland at No. 31 again.
Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/ninersblog.
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