Week 1 drubbing aside, the 49ers look like they scored a competent combo in new general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. The duo’s presence has already improved the vibe in Santa Clara, and their performance in the 2017 NFL Draft certainly turned heads around the league. But while the organization is certainly content with the paring — they were given six-year contracts after all — Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported on Sunday that Jed York and Co. were very close to going in a different direction.
According to La Canfora’s piece, “the 49ers intently pursued Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and esteemed player personnel director Nick Caserio in January and nearly completed contracts with both highly-sought candidates.” This of course runs contrary to the reports that surfaced at the time of the 49ers’ search, which had McDaniels and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick as a packaged deal, something La Canfora’s sources say was never the case.
While the 49ers ended up going in a different direction, both McDaniels and Caserio — who returned to New England for the 2017 season — were very interested in joining San Francisco, and remain open to pursuing other opportunities around the league. Caserio has been with the Patriots since 2001 when he joined as a personnel assistant. McDaniels took a job as the Broncos’ head coach in 2009 and was fired 12 games into the 2010 season after posting an 11-17 record during his tenure in Denver, before eventually returning to New England.