It was well over a year ago when a source with intimate knowledge of the San Francisco 49ers organization told me that Jim Tomsula would be the team's next head coach, at least if it were up to Niners general manager Trent Baalke.
The information seemed absurd even if the entire league knew Baalke and Jim Harbaugh were speeding toward a divorce despite what turned out to be three straight trips to the NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl berth.
"Tom and Jerry" got along better than Baalke and Harbaugh, so that part of the equation added up. But the one that didn't was the fact that all those consistent, deep playoff runs were likely the only reason Greg Roman and Vic Fangio, the 49ers' highly-regarded coordinators, weren't head coaches themselves.
So even if you accepted the fact Baalke and Harbaugh were going to part ways sooner rather than later, the Niners' football chief also would have to bypass two coaches who were always in play for potential head-coaching positions in order to get to Tomsula.
And that would take some serious testicular fortitude or some thoughtful political gamesmanship.
Baalke chose the latter.
As things progressed in 2014, it got a tad bit smoother for Baalke. The team came off the rails and the unpopular Harbaugh moved on in a "mutual parting of ways" to his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Meanwhile, quarterback Colin Kaepernick regressed at a pretty significant rate which took Roman off all of those head-coaching short lists and the former flavor of the month will now be trying to turn around E.J. Manuel's career as Rex Ryan's new offensive chief in Buffalo.
That left Fangio, public perception and perhaps CEO Jed York, as the only roadblocks between Baalke and his preferred plan, Tomsula.
Fangio made it a little more difficult by being flexible. The veteran defensive coordinator, who was Tomsula's boss for the past four years, wanted the job and even offered to stay on as the leader of the defense if the Niners decided an offensive-minded head coach like Adam Gase was the way to go.
Fangio got the courtesy interview for the head-coaching position, as did plenty of others familiar names like Ryan, Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the father-and-son duo of Mike Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan, and Rooney Rule seat-fillers Teryl Austin and Todd Bowles, who is now the head coach of the New York Jets. Lip service was even paid to UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr.
But Tomsula was always the end game in Baalke's mind.
Trotting in so many familiar names took care of the public-perception angle by allowing Baalke to spin things and claim Tomsula was the best candidate of all the names mentioned.
And perhaps the 11th hour game of footsie played with Gase in Denver earlier this week, something even some seasoned NFL insiders were buying, was a slight-of-hand trick aimed at York in order to acquiesce the CEO, who has to know Tomsula brings little cachet to a position that used to house a true heavyweight in Harbaugh.
"After conducting a thorough coaching search, and meeting with a number of outstanding candidates, Jim Tomsula clearly is the right man to lead this team," York claimed. "Jim is a great teacher and a tremendous mentor who conducts himself with great class and integrity."
And make no mistake, Tomsula could turn out to be a very good head coach, but it's a Marc Trestman-like move for Baalke.
If it works, the 49ers' football chief will be regarded as the smartest guy in the room, something his detractors claim he craves, But, if it doesn't, Baalke will go down the same path as the guy who plucked Trestman out of the CFL to coach the Chicago Bears, ex-Windy City GM Phil Emery.
After all, think about what happened here.
Since running off Harbaugh, Baalke went through a dog-and-pony show, shrouded as a vetting process in order to make the one candidate he actually had interest in seem stronger, finally pulling the trigger on Wednesday and naming his friend the 49ers' head coach.
By doing so, Baalke elevated a defensive line coach with one-game of interim head coaching experience after Mike Singletary was run out of town, and no coordinator gigs on his NFL resume over numerous highly regarded, veteran coaches who have seemed ready for years.
"Our organization is excited to have Jim Tomsula leading this football team," Baalke said.
Maybe I would be excited to -- if Baalke ditched the subterfuge and flashed the courage of his rather obvious convictions.
[SportsNetwork.com]
