The 49ers interviewed their first candidate for quarterbacks coach, Rip Scherer, who held that position with the Cleveland Browns the last four seasons. The 49ers also have interviewed outgoing Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski for their offensive coordinator -- things that make you go, Hmmmm -- but I'm being cautioned that the Scherer interview is not an indication that Chudzinski is a leading candidate for the OC job.
The mere fact that the 49ers are interviewing quarterbacks coaches before hiring an OC, however, is intriguing. During his end-of-season press conference, Mike Singletary said the incoming OC would have the discretion to pick his top lieutenant, the QBs coach. The idea was that the setup would create built-in continuity if the OC were to move on.
"Normally, the offensive coordinator that comes in, he has a person that he likes to have with him, and normally that's a quarterbacks coach," Singletary said on Dec. 31. "That's the flexibility that we have allotted him, whoever that is. So, we move forward with that."
The Browns are the only NFL team for which Scherer, 56, has coached. Most of his experience has been at the collegiate level, and he has been head coach at James Madison University and at the University of Memphis.
Coaching Background:
1974-75 Penn State, graduate assistant
1976 North Carolina State, part-time assistant quarterbacks coach
1977-78 University of Hawaii, running backs coach
1979 University of Virginia, quarterbacks coach
1980-81 Georgia Tech, quarterbacks coach
1982-84 Georgia Tech, running backs coach
1985 Georgia Tech, assistant athletic director
1986 Georgia Tech, quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator
1987 University of Alabama, offensive coordinator
1988-90 University of Arizona, offensive coordinator/director of football operations (1988)
1991-94 James Madison University, head coach
1995-2000 University of Memphis, head coach
2001 University of Kansas, co-offensive coordinator
2003-04 Southern Mississippi, offensive coordinator
2005-06 Cleveland Browns, quarterbacks coach
2007-08 Cleveland Browns, assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach
-- Matt Barrows


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