Earlier this week, the 49ers made a surprise move when they parted ways with assistant head coach and tight ends coach Jon Embree.
Embree had been with the 49ers since 2017, and with Kyle Shanahan before that in Washington. George Kittle credited Embree as a major point of his development, encouraging him to become the physical, domineering force he is today.
Per multiple reports, the team asked Embree to take a roughly 60 percent pay cut, and he declined.
Now, we have an answer for why San Francisco moved on.
Per Adam Schefter, the 49ers will hire former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn into assistant head coach role which Embree is vacating.
Lynn was much maligned for his decision making in key situations, but was the Chargers’ head coach for four years, and drafted Justin Herbert. His Chargers had the highest-graded rushing offense in the NFL in 2018, per Pro Football Focus.
While he’s never worked directly with Kyle Shanahan, Lynn got his start in the NFL as a special teams assistant for Mike Shanahan’s Denver Broncos in 2000 directly after retiring from being a Broncos running back from 1997-99.