Tracking which 49ers assistants are interviewing (and where)

The 49ers could potentially lose some of their assistants, both on the coaching staff and from the front office, to new jobs in 2024.

The San Francisco 49ers have turned themselves into a perennial Super Bowl contender in recent years, but one of the byproducts of that success is other teams want to pluck both assistant coaches and personnel from within the front office to try and replicate that success elsewhere.

True, this is how head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have grown their coaching and personnel trees, respectively, but it inevitably creates strain within the organization to replace talented minds.

The Niners have gone through it in recent years. Coordinators Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel and DeMeco Ryans have all departed for head-coaching jobs elsewhere, while Martin Mayhew and Ran Carthon took on general manager duties with other teams.

With San Francisco on the cusp of another Super Bowl push in 2024, it looks as if Shanahan and Lynch will lose even more assistants to the offseason front office searches.

Let's take a look at the latest rumors and reports about potential names to be plucked from the 49ers.

Tracking latest 49ers coaching, front office personnel news and rumors

Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks

According to a report from NFL Network, the Los Angeles Chargers have requested permission to interview defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who came aboard last offseason to replace Ryans when he left for the Houston Texans' head coaching vacancy.

The Bolts are seeking to replace not only fired head coach Brandon Staley but also former general manager Tom Telesco.

On Tuesday, Shanahan told reporters via a conference call that he was "getting a lot of phone calls and stuff" regarding Wilks, but only LA had gone through the official channels of requesting an interview.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, The Athletic's Matt Barrows reported that Wilks would also interview with the Atlanta Falcons for their vacancy after firing Arthur Smith at the end of the regular season:

Wilks oversaw the NFL's third-best scoring defense in 2023.

Assistant General Manager Adam Peters

Los Angeles' attempt to replace Telesco has stretched over to the Niners' assistant general manager under Lynch, Adam Peters, who was a talked-about name during last year's front-office searches and appears to be even more popular in 2024.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the Chargers are joining the Las Vegas Raiders as possible suitors of Peters for their own general manager vacancies, while the Washington Commanders are interviewing him for their Head of Football Operations job:

Earlier in the year, San Francisco promoted Lynch to President of Football Operations, which seemed like something of a promotion up from general manager, perhaps to open up a spot for Peters to occupy, should the money be right.

If Peters departs for Washington, though, there might not be anything capable of stopping the departure.

Update: According to reports from both ESPN and NFL Network, Peters is joining the Commanders to become their new general manager:

This potentially pushes out a former San Francisco executive, Martin Mayhew, who was Washington's general manager, previously.

Could Mayhew return to the 49ers? Possibly.

Passing Game Coordinator Klint Kubiak

Boasting one of the best offenses in football will certainly help some of Shanahan's top offensive minds in coming weeks and months.

One of those appears to be the Niners' passing game coordinator, Klint Kubiak, who is set to interview with the Chicago Bears for their offensive coordinator vacancy, as reported by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler:

Kubiak took over that role last offseason when Bobby Slowik followed Ryans to the Houston Texans to become their offensive coordinator.

Shanahan still calls offensive plays himself and doesn't have an offensive coordinator, though, so it's feasible he could promote Kubiak to keep him in house.

Kubiak also reportedly interviewed for the New Orleans Saints' open offensive coordinator position.

Assistant Special Teams Coordinator Matt Harper

Most Niners fans are at least moderately familiar with special teams coordinator Brian Schneider, who came over from the Seattle Seahawks a little over a year ago.

Most fans probably aren't familiar, however, with Matt Harper. He's the assistant special teams coordinator, for what it's worth. And, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, he got an interview with the New York Giants for a full-on special teams coordinator job:

Quarterbacks Coach Brian Griese

According to Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football, Kubiak wasn't the only Niners staffer to interview for the Saints' offensive coordinator position.

He's in the running along with San Francisco's quarterbacks coach, Brian Griese:

Griese joined the 49ers staff under Shanahan back in 2022 after a lengthy stay at ESPN as an analyst.

The former NFL quarterback has received a lot of credit for helping develop quarterback Brock Purdy.

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