Though the 49ers look well on their way to hiring a premier head coaching candidate in Kyle Shanahan, reports of missteps during the search for a coach and GM by Jed York and Co. continue to leak out on a daily basis.
The latest instance has to do with San Francisco’s inability to land a new general manager, and how the involvement of executive VP of football ops Paraag Marathe in the hiring process, put the 49ers at a disadvantage from the get go.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the 49ers top two choices to fill the GM position, Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard and Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, both declined to be interviewed by San Francisco from the outset, due in part to Marathe’s involvement.
It began with Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard. Regarded as the team’s first, second, and third choice for the job, Ballard wasn’t interested. He asked the team to deny the request for permission to interview him for the job, apparently in order to avoid the impression that he generally isn’t interested in an opportunity for advancement.
Next came Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who didn’t want the job, either. Other candidates for the G.M. job either declined an invitation to interview or withdrew after interviewing.
So how did it get to this point? Despite the widespread popular belief that the 49ers are currently the most dysfunctional team in football, the thinking in league circles is that, with some tweaks, the G.M. and coaching jobs could be desirable. The impediment to attracting their preferred candidates isn’t owner Jed York; apparently, it’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Football Operations Paraag Marathe.
Marathe has been with the 49ers organization for 16 years, reports directly to York, and is said to have a large say in football decision making – yet doesn’t seem to be held as accountable as the GM when things go south. Florio went on to call Marathe, “an elephant in the room that may be serving as an oversized anchor.”
49ers beat writer Matt Barrows detailed the issue with Marathe on KNBR weeks ago, and said his presence in meetings has been an ongoing issue.
“With what Paraag does — he’s their top contract negotiator and he’s their salary cap guru — so in those realms he’s great,” Barrows said. “I don’t think there’s any complaint about that. The issue with Paraag — with coaches and GMs — is when he starts sitting in on the football meetings. ‘Why is a non-football guy part of this meeting?’ Apparently, that was an issue for Chip Kelly as well.”
“If Paraag is sticking to the things he’s good at, I don’t think there’s any issues with him. The issues have come up in the past when he’s dabbling in football related matters.”
It seems those issues have arisen once again.
