What it will take to get 49ers turned around
Q: Have the 49ers hit rock bottom in your estimation? A: I’m afraid it could get worse. I mean, you saw those guys limping off the field or being helped off the field (against Tampa Bay last Sunday) — it seemed like a rash of injuries. It was almost like the scourge God was sending down against the Egyptians. Q: How is the relationship between (former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo and his nephew, 49ers CEO Jed York)? A: Well, I get the impression his nephew is very civil to Eddie. And I also get the impression that whenever they have contact, it’s positive and appropriate contact. I don’t know that they have a lot of contact because Eddie and I don’t talk about that very often, but it appears to be a decent relationship. Q: If they put you in that seat for the 49ers, what would you do to turn things around? A: Well, I don’t think I would have let (head coach Jim) Harbaugh go. And assuming you don’t have that option available anymore, you just brought this coach (Chip Kelly) on board. You’ve got to give him a little time to make this thing work. A lot of this can be blamed on a lot of things, but I don’t think Chip Kelly has had a fair shot to show what he can do.
I do have the sense — and this is not something he said and I’m sure he’d deny it if you asked him about it — that he feels he is working with a roster that is not where he wants it to be, and hopefully he’ll do his part to improve it. You just can’t make another change. You can’t just fire your head coach after every season. Q: The thing that rubs a lot of Niner fans the wrong way is not just that they’re losing, but they’re $50 million under the (salary) cap with a very expensive stadium and a bad roster. A: I understand how the fans feel. I feel it. Eddie feels it. And I’m sure the Yorks feel it. You’re dealing with a marquee franchise with a great brand that’s not doing too well at this point, and it’s not doing well in how it’s perceived in the marketplace. And I’m not talking about the stadium, which was a great success from a marketing standpoint.
The fact that you have cap room doesn’t mean you should spend it; you should spend it wisely. That cap room gives them a lot of flexibility to make moves and that’s going to be one of the assets in their arsenal as they move forward after this year.
The drafts are the drafts and you have to be accountable for that, and we all have to be accountable for that. Some of our drafts weren’t all that good either. It’s just a really tough time. Q: You think (NFL) owners are going to let Mark Davis and the Raiders move to Vegas? A: We had a conversation some time back about whether a team would move to Vegas, and I told you, “Not in my lifetime.” Well, I hope I’m wrong about that, because I think there is a very distinct possibility the league will approve that move.
The old taboo about gambling seems to have gone by the wayside. I think America has changed its attitude. FanDuel, DraftKings and fantasy football have changed the way people watch the sport, let alone how they enjoy it and participate in it. I think with Vegas basically being controlled by public corporations, they’ve cleaned up the image that they’ve had.
Also, you’re seeing a situation where if $750 million of public money is going to be put in (for a stadium), plus an investment of $500 million from private investment, how do you turn your back on that?