The 49ers have 3 coaches who could get hired elsewhere this offseason

Poaching season is around the corner.

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Every year, there is a hot new head coaching candidate or someone who is so young that many across the NFL are saying he is no doubt going to be a coach one day. The most famous example of this is Sean McVay, who everyone knew would be a great head coach, the question was just how young is too young to hire him. 

Tom Pelissero of NFL.com put together a list of his 24 coaching candidates that he believes will be the next to get that treatment. While the San Francisco 49ers did not have any crack the top 24, they did have three that were given honourable mentions. 

OC Klay Kubiak, 37

The younger brother of hot-head coaching candidate Klint Kubiak, Klay has been with the team since 2021. He moved from defensive quality control to an assistant quarterback coach to the offensive passing game specialist, and now his current role is offensive coordinator. 

It is always hard to stand out as an offensive coach on a Kyle Shanahan-led team, but Mike McDaniel did climb from 49ers OC to a head coach, so this is certainly possible. 

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WR coach Leonard Hankerson, 36

Hankerson played for Kyle Shanahan when Shanahan was an offensive coordinator for Washington and Atlanta. Now, they are coaching together.

Hankerson has been a wide receivers coach with the team since 2022, and he has been on the 49ers staff since 2021. He is young and has only coached wide receivers, but he is a former player who could do well connecting to his team. Perhaps he will move to offensive coordinator if Kubiak gets a job.

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DBs/CB coach Ray Brown, 41

Brown is interesting because this is his first year with the 49ers and his first year in the NFL. He has been a college coach for over a decade, though. He bounced around to many stops, but comes from Boston College. He appears to be highly regarded. The 49ers got starting snaps from rookies Upton Stout and Marques Sigle and have kept things together despite a lot of moving pieces, which is impressive for a first-time coach. 

The good news is that these coaches are not quite on the radar yet. They are known, but not legitimate candidates for head coaching jobs. San Francisco has a few hot names in coaching circles that should continue to grow in the 49ers building. The bad news is that guys like Brown and Hankerson may get coordinator jobs soon.