SF 49ers: 4 assistant coaches who could be gone in 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: SF 49ers Passing Game Coordinator Mike LaFleur
While netting draft compensation could help overcome the loss of Robert Saleh, a possible negative would be him purging some of San Francisco’s own assistants to bring with him, potentially to a new spot in Detroit.
One of the up-and-coming names is pass-game coordinator Mike LaFleur.
Kyle Shanahan already blocked an attempt earlier this season by the Green Bay Packers to interview LaFleur for their offensive coordinator opening underneath their head coach, Matt LaFleur, Mike’s brother. But that new league rule would prevent this from happening again.
Although one has to figure Shanahan would prefer Mike LaFleur to go to a team like the Lions with Saleh and help spark that NFC North rivalry instead of teaming up with Matt LaFleur in Green Bay.
There is a way to block this, however, which would involve the SF 49ers promoting Mike LaFleur to offensive coordinator in 2021, a position essentially occupied by Shanahan, too.
Still, a destination like Detroit could be enticing enough. Saleh, as head coach there, could be prompted to retain quarterback Matthew Stafford and let LaFleur work with him. Or there could be a new up-and-coming rookie signal-caller to groom, too.
That might be a more attractive situation for LaFleur anyway.