San Francisco 49ers Hire Jim Tomsula as Head Coach

By Cheri Cheng - 15 Jan '15 09:50AM

The San Francisco 49ers have a new coach. Unlike the other recent head coach hires across the league, the 49ers went with a lesser-known candidate, defensive line coach Jim Tomsula.

"After conducting a thorough coaching search, and meeting with a number of outstanding candidates, Jim Tomsula clearly is the right man to lead this team," the 49ers CEO Jed York said. "Jim is a great teacher and a tremendous mentor who conducts himself with great class and integrity."

The 49ers reportedly chose to promote Tomsula over hiring Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator Adam Gase. In comparison to other candidates, Tomsula appears to have the least amount of experience.

San Francisco Gate wrote: "He is popular among players, but he is also demanding and is regarded as one of the NFL's best position coaches after tutoring a host of undrafted free agents who have carved out NFL careers. But his promotion is certain to be met with skepticism. Of the nine candidates considered for the job, Tomsula has the least NFL experience and is the only coach who's never been a coordinator in the league. It's not known if the 49ers had a formal interview with Tomsula before making the hire.

Tomsula, 46, has been with the 49ers since 2007 as a defense line coach. With Tomsula, the 49ers' defense line has been one of the best in the league over the past four years. In 2010, he was the interim coach for one game after the organization decided to fire Mike Singletary. The 49ers ended up wining that game.

Prior to working with the 49ers, Tomsula was with Rhein Fire of the NFL Europe League, which is no longer active. With the team, Tomsula went 6-4.

Tomsula was a defensive lineman at Division II Catawba College. He has never played for the NFL.

According to FOXSports, the 49ers will only keep running backs coach Tom Rathman on their staff.

As head coach, Tomsula will have to pick an offensive coordinator, particularly one that can be effective at turning around the struggling quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.