After just one season as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Jim Tomsula is reportedly set to be fired by the organization.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports the 49ers are going to fire Tomsula and keep general manager Trent Baalke.
To say that the 2015 season was a disappointment would be a drastic understatement. Back in May, Jed York reportedly told beat writers at the owners meetings that he expected the 49ers to finish the season with a record of 11-5.
Granted, nobody can pin everything on Tomsula. He had nothing to do with the mass exodus of talent that left the organization last offseason or with Aldon Smith’s release following his umpteenth arrest.
That said, there can be no doubt that Tomsula looked vastly over matched throughout the season going up against the rest of the league’s top coaches. The 49ers were often unprepared, out-coached and out-played, and Tomsula looked clueless half the time pacing the sidelines.
Heading into Week 17 the 49ers will be lucky to reverse York’s 11-5 goal with a current record of 4-11.
The fan base is as flustered and angry as it has ever been, and it seems quite obvious Tomsula isn’t the man to turn things around. That said, if the 49ers do indeed fire him the organization better have a better plan in place to get things fixed than they did last winter.
Perhaps Mike Holmgren, who has reportedly “expressed interest” in coaching the team, could be the answer.
That said, whomever the 49ers do bring aboard is going to have to contend with Baalke, who seems like he’s never going away, despite some rather sketchy personnel decisions the past couple of years.
Another wild card in the mix is quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who at one point was reportedly “virtually certain not to return.” Perhaps the right coach could help him get his career turned back around. Then again, perhaps he’s already gone in his own mind.