RichNhansom":2gmnynlc said:
The question I have is why in all that time did none of the coaches move him into any kind of coordinator role? Or why didn't any other organization seek to interview him? Is he respected as a good guy/hard worker or as a good football mind?
More generally point taken, but he was brought in to interview for the Vikings HC gig, and the Browns were sniffing around him as HC too.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ngs-today/
https://twitter.com/BWilliamsonESPN/sta ... 2437704704
As for why he was never promoted into a coordinator role, I dunno, but I think the positive spin on this (I'm spinning it positively merely as an exercise, not saying this is THE WAY we should look at it) is because when he was hired in 2007 Greg Manusky was the DC, and he stayed the DC through Nolan and Singletary's tenure without leaving. Then when Harbaugh was hired, he brought in entirely his own guys with him save for Tomsula, and Fangio never left during Harbaugh's tenure.
So, since 2007 when he was hired there was never actually an open spot to be promoted to DC until now, and instead of moving up in the ranks to DC (as would be more typical) they moved him up to HC (and if the rumors are to be believed, he got the HC job only because Adam Gase insisted on bringing in his own DC rather than promoting someone he didn't know to DC, that person being Tomsula).
Just to say it again NONE OF THIS means that he won't promptly fall flat on his face, but I think the particulars of the history of his tenure explain why he wasn't a DC first.
EDIT: Re: the Gase rumors, the other part of that rumor is that in the first interview him not wanting a DC he didn't already know (Tomsula) was the first sticking point, and then either he or the 9ers got over that, but he really tanked it in the second interview so they moved on. The real dirty part of this rumor is that Gase supposedly would have signed on if Fangio remained the DC, which supposedly, Fangio signed on for also (he just didn't want to be leapfrogged by Tomsula). (eek).