Does the Mass Departure of Coaches Hurt the 49ers?
When Robert Saleh was hired to be the next head coach of the New York Jets, he set off a domino effect for the San Francisco 49ers.
One by one coaches were being poached from the 49ers. It was to be expected that some coaches would go with Saleh. That is usually the case whenever a coordinator of a team gets hired to be a head coach. They start taking coaches with them.
But I doubt anyone predicted the 49ers would lose TEN coaches in the last month. In a way, the mass departure of coaches shows how great of a foundation the 49ers had. The fact that they are being coveted is a fantastic compliment. However, the 49ers have had to replace these coaches, so now arises the issues of turnover.
Does the mass departure of coaches hurt the 49ers?
Well, it definitely doesn't help them. Anytime a team loses such a haul of coaches, there is going to be a bit of scrambling. It isn't a severe blow or anything like that. There is a bit of growing pains the 49ers will now have to deal with when the 2021 season starts with their influx of new coaches.
There is an encouraging sign to how the 49ers handled it. They knew some coaches were leaving with Saleh and I am sure the two sides were very transparent about how it would be handled. But the most revealing is how the 49ers handled the departures of coaches that didn't go with Saleh, such as Shane Day (Chargers) and Michael Clay (Eagles). They didn't freak out or anything like that. They had a clear replacement in mind and got their coach.
It really all comes down to how these coaches can get comfortable with their new team. For a team that is looking to win now like the 49ers, every position coach needs to be money. There cannot be any hiccups. Everything should be polished. There is that leeway early on in the season since the pressure isn't as heavy, but once the season progresses these coaches have to have a great regiment to get their group fully prepared.
At the end of the day, the only real coach's departure that hurts the 49ers heavily is Saleh. I know DeMeco Ryans has been talked about in good faith by Saleh and Kyle Shanahan, but he is still an unknown. I doubt he is as good as Saleh is, at least not right off the bat.
Other than that, getting the other coaches such as Klay Kubiak (defensive assistant) up to speed shouldn't be much of an uphill climb. The offense should still be strong with Mike McDaniel taking on a larger role and I would argue that the 49ers' offensive line benefits with John Benton's departure.
Losing 10 coaches does hurt the 49ers, but it is not an everlasting pain. They can heal up quickly and solidify themselves fairly quickly.
It just stems down to how long that takes.
