Twitter kind of blew up on me last night as we were heading out with my wife’s aunt for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Luckily for me, the restaurant had no phone reception — because as my mentions piled up it would’ve been difficult for me to keep my phone in my pocket, and I would’ve been in big trouble as a result. Well, moderate trouble, which seems big sometimes when your wife is asking you what you’re doing and giving you that familiar “you’re embarrassing me” look.
I blame Stephanie McCarroll.
So, I’ve got a source w a head nod indicating Gamble is York’s pick for GM. He’s an “unsung hero in scouting”. Back to the Bama game. 🙃
— Stephanie McCarroll (@SoCaliSteph) January 10, 2017
I responded, not to denigrate McCarroll’s tweet, but to do what I normally do: make a joke with a little bit of truth attached.
Gamble was my first guess all along, but we’ll see. It would be so Jedraag to go with Tommy G as GM and Tommy Cable as head teacher. https://t.co/QzpkDNpIMD
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) January 10, 2017
No, that doesn’t mean the 49ers are promoting Gamble or hiring Cable. In fact, it was pointed out to me that despite this report …
The #49ers are expected to interview #Seahawks execs Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer and AHC/OL coach Tom Cable next week, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 5, 2017
… the 49ers haven’t officially interviewed Cable yet. But they’re scheduled to do so Jan. 15, according to CSN Bay Area.
But wouldn’t that be perfect? Cable, who broke Randy Hanson’s jaw and was accused more than once of domestic assault by women, just oozes that “win with class” musk that Jed York would love to bottle and spray all over himself and his glorious Monster Truck venue.
The 49ers deleted this tweet. Not sure why.
Anyway, I’m surprised the 49ers haven’t interviewed him yet. When you get the chance to pick the brain of the man who coaches what is consistently the worst position group on the Seahawks, you have to pack your finest list of interview questions (So Tom, what’s your biggest weakness? How do you feel about multitasking? Can you describe a time where you didn’t agree with your superior, and how you remedied the situation? How would you instill a championship culture?) and fly to Seattle as soon as is convenient.
Then there’s the Gamble thing. Even though I was just messing around, I got several responses from fans who reminded me that Jed York dismissed Gamble as a candidate during his press conference.
@BASportsGuy Have we forgotten already? https://t.co/fK9QhrMuBA
— Jeff (@Jcool0) January 10, 2017
@BASportsGuy Wasn’t Jed fairly dismissive of Gamble at the annual firing presser?
— Jon Seaton (@JonSeaton18) January 10, 2017
@BASportsGuy @JonSeaton18 How can you rebuild with an inside hire?
— TJV3 (@_TJV3) January 10, 2017
Well, excuuuuuuuuse me! Let’s take a look at what York said.
“Tom is a very loyal employee. I think he’s one of the unsung heroes in sort of the scouting world and the professional world in the NFL. I have a ton of respect for Tom Gamble. But again, I think it’s time that we have two new people at the helm from the general manager and the head coach perspective.”
First, it’s pretty clear that York picks phrases and sticks with them, and Gamble is the Jedster’s “unsung hero.” Kind of gives McCarroll’s tweet some additional credibility since it sounds like something York would say, no?
Second, at face value it would appear that Gamble has no shot at the position. Because if you can’t take York at his word when he blesses us with his yearly “here I am, apologizing and explaining another firing” press conference, then what/who can you trust???
Hmmm.
This was the question I asked during his infamous press conference with Trent Baalke on Dec. 29, 2014.
Jed, you said two to three weeks ago, you started the conversations with Jim that led to a mutual agreement. Even if there’s a mutual breakup, there has to be one party that starts it first, that starts the conversation. Without saying what you guys talked about, who started that conversation that led to this?
JY: “I don’t know if it was a conversation that led to this. It was a conversation that an owner and a head coach have. You sit down and assess where you are. And we really didn’t start that until we were out of the playoff hunt. I didn’t think it was appropriate to sit down and assess the season before—to me, yes we had games, but if you’re not playing for the playoffs it’s a lot easier to at least think about what’s going forward. We didn’t want more distraction, more things on the plate of what are we doing? Obviously, Jim was under contract for next season. Once that took place where we were out, we both decided to sit down. It was fairly mutual. We saw each other and said, OK, let’s sit down and talk.”
“It was fairly mutual.” What the hell does that even mean?
- “This was a mutual decision.”
- “Again, it was a mutual parting. This was on two different parties. This was on us and this was on Jim.”
Alright, fine. We totally believe you, Mr. York. We’ll just have to ignore this:
“Yes, I was told I wouldn’t be the coach any more,” Harbaugh said of 49ers management.
“And then … you can call it ‘mutual,’ I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want any more.
“But that’s the truth of it. I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.”
Harbaugh confirmed that he was told this on Dec. 15 — the day after the 49ers were eliminated from playoff contention by losing in Seattle.
How about a few more?
1/4/16: “We have no interest in leaking information out of this building.”
1/4/16: “We’re willing to spend what it takes to get everything right to get back to a championship culture.”
1/20/16: “Chip’s going to be here for a long time, period.”
Is it likely that Gamble becomes the 49ers’ next general manager? No, it sounds like they’ll probably hire one of the Green Bay guys to be in charge of personnel, and either Sean McVay or Josh McDaniels to coach the team. Eliot Wolf and McVay, two young stars with famous NFL parents, seem too attractive as a package deal for a similarly blessed son like Jed to pass up. However, given York’s previous statements — some of which more unwavering and clear than the one he recently uttered about Gamble’s chances of getting promoted — I’m going to wait until a hire is announced before I write Gamble off completely.
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