Part of Jed York’s marathon Monday firing press conference was centered around his football advisors.
Who exactly are they?
The only names York was willing to list were his uncle Eddie DeBartolo and 49ers Chief Strategy Officer Paraag Marathe.
“I’m not going to throw peoples’ names out there to use those peoples’ names,” York said, before later vaguely mentioning a few former 49ers greats.
Well, we might’ve found our answer. A Hall of Fame name has surfaced as a person that will be communicating with York throughout this football operations search.
“One person Jed York will talk to a lot is Bill Parcells, for example,” Mike Silver said on the NFL Network. “Jed York knows he’s going to take a lot of criticism right now, and frankly, he deserves that. But give the man credit: 2-14 is not close to acceptable.”
KNBR’s Brian Murphy brought up a good point: Parcells was brought to the table by GM Trent Baalke from their time together with the New York Jets. How much has Parcells already been advising the 49ers the last few seasons? Could some of Big Tuna’s advice have already steered the 49ers into a dark alley?
When the 49ers irrationally stayed in Orlando to prepare for a snow game in Chicago, Baalke used that time to go visit with Parcells, a person he reveres as a football god.
“I spent a couple days with him, talking ball, watching the film, talking through our roster,” Baalke said. “It can’t hurt to spend time with a man like that, that’s accomplished what he has. It was a chance to sit down, view the film and get a different perspective of what we’re looking at.”
Bill Parcells is as accomplished of an advisor as York can hope for, and clearly better than just Paraag Marathe.
But again, what advice has Parcells already doled out the last two seasons? Did he okay York and Baalke hiring Jim Tomsula? Did he okay the Chip Kelly-Trent Baalke marriage? He must’ve. There’s no way Baalke wasn’t going to get his mentor’s approval on such drastic hirings. Are we entirely sure Parcells is as plugged into the NFL as he once was? Parcells has Hall of Fame chops, he knows what winning looks like, but he hasn’t coached in the league since 2006.
And here’s my bigger issue with this and what I wrote in my column Monday from Santa Clara: York should be hiring a Parcells type to fully make these decisions on his own accord. York should’ve said yesterday his first hire will be a President of Football Operations, someone who has won a championship before and will be hiring a GM and head coach. And then this President of Football Operations can create a “championship culture.”
Giving up power is not a part of York’s plan, though. He wants all the credit. He wants to be like his uncle Eddie DeBartolo, more than he wants to win as quickly as possible. And that’s his biggest problem.
“That’s his fatal flaw — he wants the credit,” San Francisco columnist Ann Killion said Tuesday on Murph and Mac. “He loved it. Believe me. I sat in a hotel room in New Orleans banquet room where he sat with a small group of media while they were in the Super Bowl and he love that. He loved getting the credit for getting Jim Harbaugh, for that the fact the narrative was similar to (Bill) Walsh. Just how it was all playing out.”
So, that’s where we’re at on Day 2 of the 49ers organizational search. Parcells is a better advisor than nobody, but York should’ve hired a real President of Football Operations.