SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- As Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden set out to find former San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Tomsula and talk to him about the Redskins' opening for a defensive line coach, Gruden ran into something of a problem. He couldn't locate Tomsula.
The Niners fired Tomsula after one 5-11 season in 2015. From there, Tomsula vanished from the public eye and was even difficult to track down for head coaches who might want to bring him back into the league.
"It wasn't easy, it was not easy, I will tell you that," Gruden said.