Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
The 49ers were clearly playing the long con. Develop two unsuccessful head coaches, bide your time, and then send them off to Dallas where they can be sleeper agents, destroying the organization from the inside. The rivalry born in the 1980s never ended, the 49ers just shifted to a Kremlin-style approach.
And now, with the fruits of San Francisco’s labor reaped, the Cowboys appear to have finally caught on. On Friday, the team fired two former 49ers head coaches in defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, according to multiple reports.
In addition to DC Mike Nolan, the #Cowboys also fired DL coach Jim Tomsula, source said.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 8, 2021
Though the Cowboys beat the 49ers this season, they finished 5-11 in head coach Mike McCarthy’s first season. Oh, and the 49ers managed to put up 33 points (including a hilarious, inconsequential, game-ending Hail Mary) in that game.
The Cowboys’ defense allowed the fifth-most points per game (29.6), the second-most rushing yards per game (158.8) and the ninth-most total yards per game (386.4), which, if you’re looking at it through the lens of pure chaos created, those are elite statistics on the behalf of Nolan and Tomsula.
Nolan, in three seasons as the 49ers’ head coach from 2005-08, went 18-37, missing the playoffs every season. Tomsula took over from Mike Singletary for one game in 2010 and won, then became full-time head coach in 2015 and went 5-11.
This is just the latest chapter in the Tomsula legacy, one which includes this gem:
Yung Joe Staley – Jimmy Tomsula pic.twitter.com/iQ1jJBOkd9
— Alex Tran (@49grams) April 26, 2020