Which Coaches From the 49ers Could Follow Mike McDaniel to Miami?
Losing Mike McDaniel to the Miami Dolphins might not be the only loss for the San Francisco 49ers.
Typically when someone is hired as a head coach they will bring some of their own staff. While McDaniel has never been a head coach before, there surely are some coaches he has in mind that he will want to bring over to Miami with him. One of those coaches could be from the 49ers that he will want to poach.
So which coaches from the 49ers could follow McDaniel to Miami?
Hard to say, really. For starters, only a coach who has ties to McDaniel would be the most willing/tempted to follow him. It isn’t clear exactly who he has deep ties to since he has been with Kyle Shanahan mostly his entire career.
Off the top of my head, I would think quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello would be the likeliest to leave. If that happens, I doubt Shanahan tries to block that move as there isn’t anything beneficial Scangarello brings to the table. The fact that the 49ers hired Anthony Lynn, who is meant to help Trey Lance and supplement McDaniel’s loss, is a testament to that.
Another aspect to look at here is who Shanahan and McDaniel have agreed upon in terms of poaching. Since the two have strong and respectful relationship, McDaniel is not going to try and take away Shanahan’s top coaches for the same position. Now, you could point out that Robert Saleh did that last year when he was hired to be head coach of the Jets. Saleh poached Mike LaFleur, another right hand man to Shanahan, to be offensive coordinator.
However, LaFleur was actually going to get a chance to call plays, so it was an upgraded position. Plus, LaFleur and Saleh are good friends away from football, so that is something Shanahan surely respected. McDaniel on the other hand is interesting. I believe his options are limited with the 49ers’ coaching staff. And it is not like he is going to be able to take someone off of the defense.
Shanahan surely wouldn’t allow McDaniel, no matter how much love he has for him, to poach defensive line coach Kris Kocurek away. The only way that gets interesting is if McDaniel wants him to be defensive coordinator, but Kocurek hasn’t conveyed interest in that before.
Lastly, how much say in personnel moves, both coaches and players, does McDaniel actually have?
Part of the reason why the Dolphins parted ways with Brian Flores was due to a power struggle with general manager Chris Grier. Sound familiar, 49ers fans? Grier definitely has the most pull here, so while he might adhere to some wishes of McDaniel, he holds the gavel on the Dolphins’ moves.
Without putting a definite name to it, I believe McDaniel gets at least one coach to follow him from the 49ers.
