Where the 49ers can Look to Fill Their Positional Coaching Vacancies

Here are some candidates the 49ers can consider for filling their positional coaching vacancies.

There are several moves the 49ers need to make in the coming month.

Finding a trade partner for Jimmy Garoppolo, extending Deebo Samuel and figuring out free agency deals.

But before any of that can gather some real steam, the 49ers have to figure out some of their vacancies with various position coaching spots. Aside from quality control positions that can easily be filled (even Grant Cohn could probably do it), there is really only three major spots that need to be figured out.

Here is where the 49ers can look to fill their positional coaching vacancies.

Wide Receivers coach

Filling out this spot could be tricky. The 49ers haven't had to really deal with any movement at wide receivers coach since Kyle Shanahan took over. Wes Welker had held onto it since 2017. The only time there was movement was when Miles Austin was let go. Welker is not an easy replacement considering the work he has done developing several receivers into exceptional talents. There isn't really an obvious option to point out in the open market. 

And I doubt the 49ers will look to poach a coach away from another team. The most likely scenario is that the 49ers will promote from within as they always do. Offensive quality control coach Leonard Hankerson is the most suitable (h/t Grant Cohn). Hankerson will be entering his second season with the 49ers, so it is a tall order to give him the task of coaching the likes of Deebo Samuel. But he did play under Shanahan in Washington, so he has an understanding of what Shanahan wants from his receivers.  

Special Teams coach

Following the same trend, the most obvious pathway here is to promote from within. The 49ers missed their chance to significantly upgrade here when Rich Bissacia took the job with the Packers. Even Joe Judge would have sufficed. The 49ers need a real leader here as their special teams unit was atrocious last season. Richard Hightower really was in over his head with this group.

Assistant special teams coach Matthew Harper would be my recommendation from within. Much like with Hankerson, Harper enters his second season with the 49ers. What is interesting about Harper is he has a sizeable deal of experience with special teams. He spent five seasons with the Eagles as their assistant special teams coach, so this is his domain. I would be hesitant to promote anyone that was on hand for how the special teams was last year. But my pushback would be that Harper isn't really tied to Hightower since he was just brought on last year, so he could just be good enough to get this unit afloat.

Offensive Coordinator

This vacancy is the most interesting. The 49ers never had a coach with the offensive coordinator title until 2020 when they promoted Mike LaFleur to the position. That was a way to keep LaFleur on for that season in order to keep him away from poaching teams. When he left after 2020, the 49ers promoted Mike McDaniel to that position with the same logic in mind. 

Now, there is a vacancy yet again. This time there isn't a clear-cut coach to promote at the position. It could be Anthony Lynn since he was hired before McDaniel had left. But that would be fairly wild considering Kyle Shanahan never placed any coach in that position for the first three seasons he took over the 49ers. And when he did do it, it was coaches he had been with for multiple years. Immediately handing it to Lynn would be unfair. 

I fully expect the offensive coordinator vacancy to remain throughout the year. It was only a position by name and nothing more anyways. Plus, Shanahan can keep it open if he enjoys the impact Lynn is making with Trey Lance and the offense. That way he can place Lynn there to keep him aboard. Do not expect any movements with this vacancy.