» 49ERS LOSE QB COACH TO DENVER
SANTA CLARA — Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard will have a new quarterbacks coach when they report back for the 49ers offseason program in April.
That assumes one of them — particularly Mullens, then Beathard — doesn’t first get dealt to the Denver Broncos, who hired Rich Scangarello on Wednesday as a first-time offensive coordinator.
Scangarello spent the past two years as the 49ers quarterbacks coach. He schooled up a steady rotation of starters, from Brian Hoyer to Beathard to Garoppolo to Beathard again to Mullens, the latter of whom Scangarello campaigned to sign after the Southern Miss quarterback went undrafted in 2017.
The Broncos quarterback situation has been unstable since Peyton Manning left after the 2015 season’s Super Bowl run. Case Keenum went 6-10 this season — including a Dec. 9 loss at the 49ers — and, with only one year left on his contract, the Broncos and new coach Vic Fangio are hunting for a new QB.
“Obviously, we’ve got to — Case (Keenum) is probably a short-term fix — find the long-term guy for us,” general manager John Elway told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “When we do find that guy, we’ve got to have the continuity on the offensive side to where we can train him and develop him and get him there.
“This is our fourth offense in probably three or four years. Quarterbacks need to be developed. You don’t find one ready-made. We got to have a solid system in place for when we do go after whatever guy it may be, a young guy or a trade or whatnot.”
Garoppolo, who’s coming off reconstructive knee surgery, is the 49ers longterm guy. Keeping both Mullens and Beathard in the bullpen is wise until Garoppolo’s health is assured, but trading one of the backups is indeed possible, and Mullens likely would be more coveted.
Championed by Scangarello in a predraft visit to 49ers HQ, Mullens went 3-5 last year, after spending 2017 on the practice squad as an undrafted rookie. He passed for 2,277 yards with 13 touchdown, 10 interceptions and a 64.2 completion percentage.
Beathard, a 2017 third-round draft pick, went 1-4 last season and 0-5 this season, passing for 2,682 yards, 12 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 57.3 completion percentage.
Mullens will become an exclusive rights free agent after this year, and Beathard a restricted free agent, so they basically remain under team control.
Despite losing Scangarello, coach Kyle Shanahan still has his closest offensive confidants in Mike LaFleur and Mike McDaniels, who serve as coordinators of the 49ers’ pass and run games, respectively. Either could be shifted into Scangarello’s old role, and if it’s LaFleur, perhaps that means a promotion for Katie Sowers to become the wide receivers coach.
The 49ers reportedly denied other teams from interviewing LaFleur and McDaniels for offensive coordinator roles; assistants only can’t be denied for head-coach opportunities.
“We’re getting an experienced coach who was a trusted and valued assistant with Kyle Shanahan for three seasons,” Fangio said in a statement. “He worked wonders with all the quarterbacks who started for San Francisco during the previous two years as quarterbacks coach.
“With his background and knowledge, it’s the perfect time for Rich to be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. I find this opportunity for Rich very similar to when I first became a defensive coordinator many years ago and he is ready to take this step.”
Whenever a quarterback came off the field and onto the bench during a game, it was Scangarello who would sit with him and review footage of plays.
The Garoppolo-Beathard-Mullens trio passed for 4,247 yards this season, the franchise’s most since Steve Young’s final full season in 1998 (4,510 yards).
Neither the 49ers nor Broncos have hinted at a potential quarterback trade, which can be agreed to anytime but not formalized until March 13. These franchises have become intertwined in recent years, from training-camp scrimmages to swapping personnel (see: Vernon Davis, 2015; nearly Colin Kaepernick in 2016-17; player-personnel executive Adam Peters in 2017; Kapri Bibbs, 2017). Other obvious connections are the Shanahan lineage, and John Lynch’s friendship with Elway.
Another addition to Fangio’s Broncos staff is defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, who worked as the secondary coach with Fangio on the Bears the past four years and with the 49ers from 2011-14.