The San Francisco 49ers are still in the hunt for a new offensive coordinator, and the one coach that looked like he was the primary candidate - Indy's Rob Chudzinski - elected to sign a new deal with the Colts rather than make the move to the Bay Area.
On Tuesday, CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco reported that the 49ers are set to hire Steve Logan - Jim Tomsula's OC with the Rhein Fire - to an unknown position on Tomsula's offensive staff.
There are currently two vacant positions on the offensive staff (unless the 49ers create a new one) - Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Assistant. That leaves four possibilities, and we'll take a look at each of them:
1. Steve Logan is the 49ers new offensive coordinator
2. Steve Logan is now a 49ers offensive assistant
3. Steve Logan is filling a new position yet to be announced (Logan has coached WRs, QBs, and RBs in the past, so there are plenty of options here)
4. The 49ers plan to promote someone already on staff (QBs coach Geep Chryst has been mentioned) to OC, then have Logan fill that newly-vacant position
Options 1 would be a major surprise, even by this offseason's standards. Jed York and Trent Baalke have made it a point to surround Tomsula with as much NFL experience as possible, and while Logan has been a head coach at the college level, his only NFL job was a three-year stint as running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the Bucs were 23rd in rushing offense his first year, 8th in his second, and 30th in his third and final season). The front office has to know this move wouldn't go over well with the fans, and making it anyway would be a shock.
Option 2 would be a mild surprise - Logan might appear underqualified for an OC job, but he has a long enough resume that an offensive assistant position - traditionally filled with younger coaches or those transitioning from a playing career - would appear to be below him.
Option 3 is probably the most likely scenario. The 49ers could name Logan running game coordinator, assistant running backs coach, or create any other unoccupied title out of thin air - it's not like they can't afford another assistant, and Logan's 3+ decades of coaching experience mean he'll be bringing something to the table wherever he lands.
Option 4 is also unlikely...but it's worth looking at. We've heard Geep Chryst's name a lot in recent weeks (he's one of the few coaches on staff to survive Harbaugh's exit), and there are growing rumors that he could end up as OC. His status going forward still hasn't been clarified, so there's a slim chance that Chryst is being let go and Logan fills his position...but either way, Logan would end up in the same place. Logan has nine seasons of QB coaching (in college and NFL Europe, but that's beside the point) under his belt.
All in all, we have to say Options 3 and 4 are the most likely scenarios...but if there's one thing we've learned from Jed York and Trent Baalke over the past few months, it's that our expectations don't mean a whole lot at the end of the day.
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