The 49ers may potentially lose a chunk of their front office and coaching staff this offseason, including these five who may be elsewhere in 2022.
One of the problems with being a good team is other teams are typically attracted to the kind of success said good team is capable of having.
And with the carousel of coaches, general managers and executives always revolving on a year-to-year basis, it’s rare for a coaching staff to have the same kind of continuity over a long period of time.
The San Francisco 49ers have already found this out the hard way, particularly at the conclusion of the 2020 season when former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh left to become the head coach of the New York Jets, taking the Niners’ previous passing game coordinator, Mike LaFleur, with him to become Gang Green’s offensive coordinator.
After San Francisco went 10-7 during the regular season, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s coaching tree is again looking to be shaken up, and there are concerns the 49ers could lose some of their front-office personnel, too.
Here are five assistants, both from the coaching side and within the front office, who could be gone this offseason.
No. 5: 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters
A year ago, the Niners promoted vice president of player personnel Adam Peters to assistant general manager, directly supporting current general manager John Lynch but leaving the door open for Peters to interview for a promotional position as another team’s GM.
In this round of interviews, Peters seemed to be a hot candidate for the New York Giants’ general manager opening, only to see that position wind up going to Joe Schoen instead.
Peters interviewed there but didn’t get the position. However, there are some other openings remaining that could still lure in someone like Peters to take over, such as the Las Vegas Raiders.
While not as much of a public figure as Lynch, Peters has nevertheless been a vital cog in helping San Francisco land talent like tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and running back Elijah Mitchell in the middle or late rounds of the NFL Draft.
Should Peters depart this offseason, the 49ers would be losing a key piece to the formula that helped them turn into a playoff team.
No. 4: 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon
Things get a bit more challenging when it comes to thinking about the deeper assistants within the front office, as there’s far more room for promotional moves under the swarm of changes within other teams’ front offices.
Unlike Adam Peters, Niners director of player personnel Ran Carthon isn’t someone a lot of San Francisco fans know well, but he has also been essential in helping identify much of the talent the team has brought in under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
To get a sense of what Carthon does, just take a look at his bio on the team’s website:
"In his role, Carthon manages the pro scouting department in evaluating players among the professional leagues while continuing his duties of advance scouting of the 49ers upcoming opponents. In addition, he prepares the club for acquisitions through free agency, trades and the daily waiver wire."
Carthon, too, interviewed for the Giants’ general manager vacancy before it was filled, as well as with the Chicago Bears before their opening was filled by Ryan Poles.
The Bears have put in a request to interview 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon for their GM job, per source. Carthon was also requested by the Giants.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 11, 2022
While Peters is running out of GM openings, Carthon could easily be in the running for one of the many assistant general manager spots out there.
It’s still quite possible he winds up departing the 49ers this offseason after being a part of numerous notable moves.
No. 3: Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower
Switching over to the coaching side of things from here on out, the Niners may be forced to make some serious changes to the assistants supporting Kyle Shanahan.
For special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, though, a move might not be based solely on a promotion or being taken away by another franchise. If anything, Hightower is surely the No. 1 coordinator candidate to simply be let go by San Francisco during the offseason.
Sure, special teams saved the 49ers’ efforts against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Before that, though, special teams was one of the Niners’ primary weaknesses and almost routinely gave up gaffe plays and mistakes on a week-to-week basis during the regular season. All to the point where Football Outsiders ranked this unit 26th in the league over the course of 2021.
True, Hightower rarely has the benefit of carrying over an identical core of special teams players, given the fluctuation in backups and third-string players on a year-to-year basis. But that’s the same issue 31 other teams across the league have, and San Francisco’s special teams unit hasn’t exactly been a strength during Shanahan’s entire tenure dating back to 2017.
If the 49ers are forced to shake up their coordinators this offseason, Hightower is the likeliest to depart.
No. 2: 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel
After being something of an unknown commodity deep within Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff before 2021, first-year offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel suddenly popped into the limelight after serving as the Niners’ run game coordinator, previously.
That limelight was surely aided by this compilation of rather humorous media sessions:
I hope the Vikings hire 49ers OC Mike McDaniel, simply for the press conference vibes pic.twitter.com/y221Gv4qPT
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) January 12, 2022
The Miami Dolphins appear to be hot on McDaniel’s trail to fill their head-coaching void left by the recently fired Brian Flores, and the Dolphins would surely be happy to land the coordinator who helped engineer the NFL’s seventh-best rushing offense during the regular season.
For what it’s worth, Miami finished third worst in that same category.
While Shanahan has been the primary play designer and play-caller for San Francisco during his reign, there’s no shortage of support claiming just how vital McDaniel has been in strengthening the offense.
Losing him would unquestionably be a big blow to the 49ers.
No. 1: 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans
It took Robert Saleh years to land his first interview for a head-coaching vacancy after being promoted to defensive coordinator.
It took first-year defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, Saleh’s replacement, just one year.
Granted, Ryans inherited a talented defense, one that included Fred Warner and EDGE Nick Bosa, which wasn’t a luxury Saleh had. Despite some early struggles in the opening weeks of the regular season, though, Ryans has helped transform the Niners defense into one of the NFL’s best, a unit Football Outsiders ranked ninth best in scoring and seventh best, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric.
Related Story: 4 reasons DeMeco Ryans impressed us in 2021
The Raiders and Minnesota Vikings put in requests to interview Ryans, and a recent development with Minnesota could potentially make Ryans a top name to watch for its post-Mike Zimmer head-coaching vacancy:
If the Vikings hire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as GM today, it's important to note that he hasn't "packaged" himself with a coaching candidate in interviews. I think he'll be open-minded. But hard not to connect him with 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 25, 2022
Adofo-Mensah and Ryans were together in SF.
For what it’s worth, the Vikings did hire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their general manager. Ryans’ stint as defensive coordinator for San Francisco could last just a lone year.
Kyle Shanahan has long since stated it wouldn’t be a matter of “if” Ryans got a coaching job, rather “when.”
And if Albert Breer is correct, that “when” might be happening sooner than later.