Of the numerous NFL coaching vacancies on this Black Monday, Santa Clara is the second-least attractive; only Cleveland is worse. The dysfunction that has poisoned and marginalized an iconic franchise has become a tragicomic topic in league circles. The senseless dismissal of Jim Harbaugh, followed by the hiring and quick firing of overmatched Tomsula, has cemented York as the league’s biggest ownership buffoon. People do gossip in the football industry, and they hear the Jed stories: He’s a clueless and clumsy know-it-all, a Silicon Valley tech wannabe who refuses to contact Uncle Eddie DeBartolo or Carmen Policy for advice, a trust-fund CEO who only got a stadium built while riding the wave of his one good deed — hiring Harbaugh — which he undid by getting rid of him.
I mean, consider the shabby way that Jed and Trent fired Tomsula. The front office first leaked word of his impending demise to several national reporters, just in time for all the morning gab shows, then they left Tomsula in the dark for hours. “I have not talked to ownership,” he said at 5 p.m. or so, following a 19-16 overtime win over St. Louis. “Today is all about those players.”
Around two hours later, the 49ers confirmed his firing with a tweet: “Jim Tomsula has been relieved of his duties as head coach.”
Cold. What coach in his right mind would want to work for these people?
