Welp. That was fast.
The San Francisco 49ers wasted absolutely no time in bringing down the hammer, following the merciful conclusion of their disastrous 2015 NFL campaign.
Despite managing to knock off the St Louis Rams in their final game of the year, head coach Jim Tomsula didn’t even get to leave Levi’s Stadium with his job intact – the 49ers announcing that Tomsula had been relieved of his duties after just one season at the helm.
The Niners 5-11 season record is almost flattering, belying an utterly chaotic season that saw them not only finish dead last in their division, but also saw Colin Kaepernick – the man who lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance just two seasons ago – lose his swagger, and ultimately his job as starting quarterback for the team.
The plot thickens even further when you consider the fact that it was Tomsula who convinced Jarryd Hayne to sign with San Francisco – rather than the Detroit Lions – as he made the biggest code jump in Australian sporting history.
Tomsula’s experience in the NFL‘s European feeder league, specifically with guiding athletes from other sporting backgrounds through the transition to playing American football, was the reason Hayne made the jump across. Hayne himself confirmed as much during the ensuing media circus.
‘Course the NFL’s a cut-throat business at the best of times – far more so than our local footballing codes, who are way more likely to give new coaches a grace period of at least a couple of years – but the Niners were an absolute dumpster fire of a side in 2015. And no amount of play from some ragtag Australian (no matter how phenomenal he may be) could have fixed it.
Tomsula joins the growing 2015 crop of sacked coaches, that already includes Mike Pettine (binned by the Cleveland Browns after two seasons), Chip Kelly (giving his marching orders by the Philadelphia Eagles after 3), with New York Giants long-time leader Tom Coughlin rumoured to be on the precipice of retirement, and big question marks hanging over the futures of Detroit Lions‘ Jim Caldwell, and Dan Campbell of the Miami Dolphins.
Football. She’s a bloody tough gig, friends.
Photo: Michael Zagaris/Getty Images.
Source: Fox Sports.
