San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made some news in his end-of-season press conference when he announced the club would have a new position on its coaching staff next season.
Shanahan told reporters offensive passing game specialist Klay Kubiak would be promoted to offensive coordinator. Kubiak’s promotion wouldn’t include a change in duties. It marks the first time since the 2021 season that San Francisco has had an offensive coordinator. Mike McDaniel held that position for one season before being hired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
It turns out hiring an offensive coordinator may not be as easy as just promoting Kubiak.
CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported NFL rules don’t permit teams to directly promote coaches to previously closed coordinator spots. That means the 49ers will conduct interviews for their newly-created OC opening.
This will make for an awkward process since the team already has its guy. They may interview some internal candidates to get them some experience with the interview process.
There may also be a chance candidates who interview for the OC job wind up landing a different spot on San Francisco’s coaching staff. That was the path assistant head coach Brandon Staley followed to his position. He interviewed for the defensive coordinator job last season and wound up landing a different spot on the staff.
It’s unclear when the 49ers will conduct their OC interviews. Given the urgency to find a defensive coordinator first, it would make sense if the OC search went on the backburner for the time being.