After interviewing six candidates for their vacant GM position, and with two still scheduled for the weekend, the 49ers reportedly decided to add another name to their list: Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough.
49ers beat writer Matt Barrows joined SportsPhone 680 on Thursday evening, and told Ray Woodson that San Francisco’s decision to add another candidate this late in the game is an indication that the team hasn’t been blown away by any of their previous interviews.
“The fact that the 49ers got well into their search and then added him late in the game suggests that he’s very much a candidate,” Barrows said. “If they were blown away by somebody else they’re not going to be making new interview requests.”
The 49ers are reportedly interviewing McDonough on Friday. He will be the seventh candidate that San Francisco has interviewed for the GM position up to this point, joining Eliot Wolf, Brian Gutekunst, George Paton, Jimmy Raye III, Brandon Beane and Louis Riddick as those who have sat down with Jed York. The 49ers are scheduled to interview Seattle front office executives Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner on Monday.
McDonough has been the Cardinals VP of player personnel for three seasons and is primarily tasked with overseeing the college and pro personnel departments, while also assisting on the negotiations of player contracts. He started his career as an intern with the 49ers in 1989.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald tweeted his approval of McDonough on Thursday
My guy Terry McDonough is interviewing for the GM job of our arch rivals @49ers. None the less he’s truly deserving.
— Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald) January 13, 2017
Barrows believes that part of the reason the 49ers may be interviewing McDonough is to add another candidate to their head coaching search.
“They obviously heard a lot about McDonough and thought that he was worth following up on,” Barrows said. “I don’t know exactly who he’s linked to when you are talking about these pairings. Maybe it’s not obvious. Maybe that’s the reason for this meeting tomorrow is just to try to figure those things out. ‘Okay of the coaching candidates we’ve talked to, who do you like?’”
“It could be that McDonough says ‘you know, I really like my own offensive coordinator here with the Cardinals,’ and that could lead to an additional coaching interview. The 49ers have time, that’s the point. If your two top candidates are Kyle Shanahan and Josh McDaniels, you expect them to go deep into the playoffs – perhaps to the Super Bowl – that buys you some time. At this point they’re not competing against anybody so there’s really no rush.
According to Matt Maiocco, people around the league believe that Kyle Shanahan is the most logical head coach pairing with McDonough.
Listen to the full interview below.
