The San Francisco 49ers still have quite a few coaching vacancies to fill on Jim Tomsula's staff, and they're looking across the Bay to bring in a very well-qualified Tight Ends coach.
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the 49ers are very interested in Tony Sparano, who coaching tight ends for the Redskins, Jaguars and Cowboys from 2001-2004. Sparano transitioned to roles coaching offensive lines and the running game before becoming head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2008, but he has plenty of experience with TEs on his resume.
Sparano spent his most recent season as interim HC for the Oakland Raiders. Sparano had been the team's assistant HC/offensive line coach, but he was promoted to the interim job when the team fired Dennis Allen after Week 4. Sparano went 3-9 in 12 games with the team, but was not retained when the Raiders chose to hire Jack Del Rio last week.
Sparano has no experience with the 49ers organization, but Barrows reports he has ties to GM Trent Baalke through Bill Parcells, who Sparano worked under with the Cowboys and the Dolphins.
San Francisco's search for an offensive coordinator is ongoing, but the hunt has apparently hit a roadblock in Indianapolis - the 49ers are being denied permission to interview Colts assistant Rob Chudzinski, who had emerged along with Alabama's Lane Kiffin as a leading candidate for the job.
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