The San Francisco 49ers are casting a wide net in their search to replace head coach Jim Harbaugh and the team may look at Doug Marrone after he opted out of his deal with the Bills, Mike Shanahan, Rex Ryan, Dan Quinn, Vic Fangio or Adam Gase as options to come in and take over after Harbaugh and Niners mutually parted ways.
According to Pro Football Talk, the 49ers have spoken with Shanahan about the possibility of taking over as head coach, with Shanahan speaking with the team on Tuesday. Shanahan has connections to the 49ers front office and he has said in the past year that he would like to get back into coaching after his time with the Redskins. ESPN.com reported that Rex Ryan is a potential target for the 49ers along with Dan Qunn, the defenisve coordinator of the Seahawks.
Shanahan has said that he wants to coach for a contending team and the 49ers would fit that bill despite being 8-8 this season. Pro Football Talk reports that Kyle Shanahan is also an option for the 49ers and if he doesn't get the job and Mike does, it could be a repeat of the Washington situation. PFT also reports that both Vic Fangio and Dan Quinn have interviewed for the head coaching job and it comes after Fangio has been offensive coordinator for the team under Harbaugh/
Harbaugh left the Niners in much better position than when he arrived, as he won 44 games in four seasons and took the team to the playoffs three times. The team had not made the playoffs in years and was a complete mess while changing coaches, coordinators and players on a year to year basis. Harbaugh came in and stabilized things quickly, taking the team to the NFC championship game in his first season.
Harbaugh took the team to the Super Bowl one year and lost to his brother John and he found the Niners a franchise quarterback in Colin Kaepernick. While Kaepernick did take a step back this season, he was nurtured by Harbaugh and was put in as the starter when Alex Smith went down. Harbaugh now is back in the college ranks with Michigan after not being able to work with Jed York and Trent Baalke. The front office now is looking to bring a head coach that is more of a "company man" rather than a hard nosed independent type like Harbaugh.