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Eddie Jr. will be consultant as 49ers rebuild
Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary during an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010, in San Diego.
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
San Francisco team president and CEO Jed York is turning to his uncle, former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., for advice on how to fix the underachieving franchise.
DeBartolo will serve as a consultant in the process of finding a general manager, and York also plans to talk to Patriots president Jonathan Kraft about what works so well for New England. Only after a GM is in place will a new coach be hired, and there’s no timetable. Jim Tomsula will coach the 49ers for all of a week, and his bosses have said they expect him to win.
The promoted defensive line coach took charge of the downtrodden team Monday, a day after the 49ers fired Mike Singletary late Sunday upon returning to team headquarters following a 25-17 loss at St. Louis that eliminated San Francisco from playoff contention. Also fired were pass rush specialist coach Al Harris and inside linebackers coach Vantz Singletary, the former coach’s nephew.
York said he had considered the coaching change in recent weeks.
“Obviously we had expectations of being a playoff-caliber team this year. Whether we were a 7-9 division winner or not didn’t matter to me,” York said. “I wanted to make sure that the San Francisco 49ers had an opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl, which I felt like we had every expectation to do that. When that was not realized, I wanted to make sure we were setting ourselves up for the remainder of the season but more importantly for next season.”
York said he has already begun pursuing potential GM candidates and could do some interviews later this week. The 49ers have been without a general manager since the abrupt departure of Scot McCloughan in March, which York called a “mutual parting.” McCloughan wound up with the division-rival Seahawks.