Yesterday, the San Francisco 49ers announced that they had chosen Jim Tomsula to be the new head coach of team. As it is with all major decisions, the team was heavily criticized by fans and pundits alike for their choice. Most had never heard of his name before yesterday, and now he is the head coach of one of the most storied franchises in the league. There are hundreds of reasons of why this might be a wrong decision, but are there any arguments to be made about it being the right decision?
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Immediately after the season ended, the 49ers and head coach Jim Harbaugh “mutually agreed to part ways.” This move confused and angered fans, especially because of what Harbaugh had done for the franchise in a few short years.
Many believed that if the 49ers promoted from within, it would be defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, especially because Fangio essentially held the team hostage by threatening to leave if he wasn’t given the job. The 49ers surprised everyone by hiring Tomsula, the team’s defensive line coach, over Fangio and every other candidate. Once again, this angered and confused fans.
Fans are still in the dark about what happened and what is currently happening with the team, and no amount of beating around the bush from owner Jed York and GM Trent Baalke is going to appease them. But in all this chaos, the storyline has been the fans vs. York and Baalke. What about the players?
When Harbaugh was fired, the players were just as confused as the rest of us. They were most likely pretty angry as well. The players loved Harbaugh, despite earlier reports saying otherwise. This was shown with both actions and words such as Craig Dahl giving Harbaugh the ball from his game winning interception in week 17 to the players dumping Gatorade on him. Plenty of players have also gone up to bat for him such as Anquan Boldin and Colin Kaepernick.
The players’ love for Harbaugh isn’t something that can easily be forgotten. Any coach that the 49ers brought in to lead the team would be hard pressed to uproot Harbaugh’s presence in that locker room and gain all the players’ respect.
Niner Noise
It is easy for players to check out when they aren’t happy or don’t want to play. This is what made Harbaugh so special. His players wanted to play for him. They wanted to fight for him. And when the players are already annoyed at their own organization, it makes it that much harder for any new coach to get the very best out of them.
That is where coach Tomsula comes in.
Tomsula is already heavily respected both inside that locker room and around the league. This is a man who has paid his dues to get to where he is today.
While many doubt his ability to game plan and his inexperience, which are valid doubts, I am confident that Tomsula can and will get every ounce of effort out of all his players.
It is no surprise that Vernon Davis disappointed this past year. He injured his back early in the season and never looked the same. However, there were some moments where he didn’t even look as if he was trying. Whether or not he checked out of the season is a whole different topic, but once Tomsula was announced as head coach, Davis posted this on Instagram.
This is one example of many of the respect that 49ers’ players have for Tomsula. You can read more quotes here.
Tomsula’s passion and fire is one thing that makes him so well liked. If anyone is going to miss Harbaugh’s antics on the sidelines, have no fear, because I’m sure Tomsula will have plenty of hilarious reactions himself.
There is one thing I will give to York and Baalke. They said they were looking for a teacher and a leader to be their next coach, and Tomsula seems to a great teacher and a great leader.
Now whether or not Tomsula can be successful as a head coach in the NFL is still up for debate. Whoever he brings in as offensive and defensive coordinator will be very telling. But as a leader of men and the leader of the 49ers, I’m sure he will excellent at that.