49ers coach Jim Tomsula has won three of his first 10 games as a head coach. That record obscures the reality that some of the losses were so ugly that it’s a bit surprising he’s won three times.
Either way, the overall performance of the team has prompted speculation about his future. On Wednesday, reporters asked Tomsula whether he has received any assurances about whether he’ll return in 2016.
“[W]e haven’t had any conversations about any of that,” Tomsula said. “Just to your point right there, we’re in a performance-based business and all of us in it get it. So I don’t think or work that way. [M]y long-term goal is Sunday. It’s just where I stay.”
Many believe the 49ers wouldn’t fire Tomsula after one year because he was the hand-picked successor to Jim Harbaugh, selected by G.M. Trent Baalke and owner Jed York to move the team forward. Firing Tomsula after one year would amount to an admission that they screwed up.
Still, plenty of coaches have been replaced after only one year on the job. Two years ago, the Browns fired Rob Chudzinski after a single season. In 2012, the Jaguars fired Mike Mularkey after only one year on the job. In 2011, Hue Jackson got dumped by the Raiders after one season as the non-interim head coach. In 2009, Jim Mora (the Younger) was one-and-done in Seattle. In 2007, the Dolphins hired Cam Cameron, and then they fired him after one year.
Other one-and-out coaches since 1980 include Art Shell (Raiders, 2006), Marty Schottenhimer (Washington, 2001), Al Groh (Jets, 2000), Ray Rhodes (Green Bay, 1999), Joe Bugel (Raiders, 1997), Pete Carroll (Jets, 1994), Richie Petitbon (Washington, 1993), Rod Rust (Patriots, 1990), and Les Steckel (Vikings, 1984).
So if the 49ers move on from Tomsula, it won’t really be a shock because he lasted only a one year. It nevertheless would be a surprise because the 49ers picked Tomsula over arguably the best coach in franchise history other than Bill Walsh.