The San Francisco 49ers appear to have Lane Kiffin as a front runner for the offensive coordinator job. While that wouldn’t be a bad choice, there’s a better fit for that position — a guy they requested to interview on Tuesday.
Rob Chudzinski’s previous experience with the Carolina Panthers would make him an ideal candidate, but there’s a good chance he could join familiar ties. Chudzinski spent this season with the Indianapolis Colts as a special assistant. After the blowout loss in the AFC Championship to the New England Patriots, he’s available to interview with teams and the Chicago Bears have requested to talk with him alongside the 49ers.
The last time Chudzinski made headlines in the NFL was when he was abruptly fired by the Cleveland Browns after his first season as head coach. He suffered through a 4-12 debut, but the firing was extremely unpopular among Browns players dating back to the end of 2013.
Previous to that, he had a two-year stint as the offensive coordinator with Carolina. Here’s where the link is with the Bears. Newly-hired head coach John Fox had Chudzinski as his offensive coordinator in the season before Fox was fired from his head coaching position. The St. Louis Rams are also wanting to interview Chudzinski.
Bryan Knowles of Bleacher Report, in his opinion of if Mike Shanahan would be a good fit as an offensive coordinator with the 49ers, explains why Chudzinski is a great fit for head coach Jim Tomsula.
"Chudzinski has served as offensive coordinator for the University of Miami and the Cleveland Browns, but it’s his time as Cam Newton’s coordinator in Carolina that’s the most intriguing thing about Chudzinski’s potential. Chudzinski helped lead the Panthers to top-10 rushing attacks in both years he was their offensive coordinator, which fits into Tomsula’s run-first ideals."
It’s also worth mentioning that during Chudzinski’s time as an offensive coordinator with the Hurricanes, 49ers running back Frank Gore was at the university. If there’s anything that could help the 49ers reel in Gore for another season, that could be it.
Now that Marc Trestman is headed to the Baltimore Ravens, it’s Chudzinski that should be the front runner. His play-calling would fit with Tomsula’s system and he could continue the process of making quarterback Colin Kaepernick better. Chudzinski worked with Cam Newton in the Carolina quarterback’s early years.
There was a bit of a scuffle on comments that Newton made about Chudzinski when talking about his time with the offensive coordinator last August, but he clarified that the offensive system coming from Auburn to Carolina was tough and Chudzinski helped him in a big way.
"[Newton said:] “When I came here it was a culture shock. There were things that were thrown at me that I never would have even imagined. The whole college system was somewhat training wheels and whatnot and without the appreciation for me with having coach Chud around, I would not have had the season that I did have."
It isn’t so much that Kiffin isn’t the right fit for the 49ers but that Chudzinski just may be the better fit. That could be tough if Chudzinski has interest in reuniting with Fox, but San Francisco looks to be a better calling when it comes to their offensive scheme and a quarterback he can work with.