Murph and Mac co-hosted their show from 49ers training camp in Santa Clara on Tuesday and were pleased to be joined by Paraag Marathe, executive vice president of football operations.
Marathe has been with the 49ers organization in one way or another for 17 seasons, and in recent years has been the subject of criticism due to reports that he helped orchestrate the firing of the last three 49ers head coaches. Brian Murphy asked Marathe how this narrative has made him feel over the past few years.
“It’s frustrating,” Marathe said, “but at the same time, I get it too. We’ve had a lot of turnover. We haven’t had a lot of winning seasons recently, and I’m one of the one constants. I’ve been here. I’m not just an employee here, I’m also a fan of the team and I have been my whole life. I get it. I understand fans’ frustrations. If I was a fan, and I didn’t know, I would also say, ‘Well, hey, Paraag’s been here the whole time. How come he’s been there? What’s he have to do with it?’ So I get that, too. Ultimately we’re judged on wins and losses. I’m a part of that. Hopefully I’m a part of the solution that gets this thing turned around.
“The thing is, I’ve got a lot of great relationships in this league, and a lot of great friends in this league. As we’re going through this process, I had a lot of folks, and even a lot of the candidates — they talked to a lot of other people in the league. Not those spinning a narrative but a lot of people within the league about when they’re doing their reference checks and things like that. It’s something, all I can do is do the best job I can and focus on what I think is right, and know the sun rises and the sun sets and just focus on that.”
Marathe also clarified that he had a hand in the hiring of new general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“It was Jed who hired the coaches and the GM, and I helped them in the process,” Marathe said.
“You were intimately involved the whole way?” Murph asked.
“Yeah, I was involved that’s right.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Marathe’s comments on criticism skip to the 5:50 mark.