Holmgren interested in 49ers job; Eagles coaching fallout
SANTA CLARA -- Mike Holmgren, who publicly campaigned for the 49ers head-coaching job a year ago, would gladly take over the job this year. Holmgren's interest in the 49ers -- he was born in San Francisco, served as a 49ers assistant for five seasons during their heyday and has a home in nearby Scotts Valley -- first was reported by Si.com.
Holmgren's most recent NFL job was as team president of the Browns. Those close to the 67-year-old former head coach say that he's not interested in having any dual roles with San Francisco such as general manager or president. He just wants to be the team's head coach and to help the 49ers, his boyhood team, out of their current funk. Holmgren, who was head coach with the Packers and Seahawks, first started coaching on the high school level in San Francisco and San Jose.
The 49ers, however, interviewed nine candidates last year and Holmgren wasn't one of them despite him campaigning for the job. In July, Holmgren said on The Rich Eisen Show that he had offers from other teams early in 2015 but that the 49ers job was the only opening that interested him.
"... I told my agent, ‘You know, the one I’d really kind of like to do is San Francisco,’" Holmgren said at the time. "And so they reached out to the 49ers and essentially, I got a call back saying, ‘Nah, we’re going with a younger guy.'”
Jim Tomsula is 20 years younger than Holmgren.
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With the Eagles firing Chip Kelly as head coach on Tuesday, one name to watch is Bob Bicknell, Philadelphia's wide receivers coach. The 49ers tried to interview Bicknell last year, presumably for their offensive coordinator position, but were blocked.
Should the 49ers retain Tomsula, the two are familiar from their time in NFL Europe. Bicknell never coached on the same staff as Tomsula but served as an offensive coordinator for the franchise in Berlin and Cologne. He’s mostly been a tight ends or a wide receivers coach in the NFL. He served under Kelly for three seasons.
The 49ers rank second to last in total offense -- only Sunday’s opponent, St. Louis, is worse -- and are last in scoring offense.
Matt Barrows: @mattbarrows, read more about the team at sacbee.com/sf49ers.
This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 7:46 AM with the headline "Holmgren interested in 49ers job; Eagles coaching fallout."