The 49ers didn't give the Jim Tomsula era much of a chance.
The team announced Sunday night they have fired their coach after just one season.
MORE: Other NFL coaches dreading Black Monday | NFL assistants ready for big promotions
“Jimmy has been a valuable member of the 49ers organization for the last nine years,” CEO Jed York said in a statement. “We all know he is a man of high character, and his contributions on the field and in our community have always been greatly appreciated. This entire organization is proud and grateful to have worked so closely alongside Jimmy. We all wish him and his family great success in the future.”
York surprisingly chose to keep general manager Trent Baalke, who was unable to find viable replacements for the team's slew of departures last year.
The Niners went 5-11 in Tomsula's only season as the team's head coach. Tomsula was the team's defensive line coach from 2007 until last January, when he was promoted to head coach after the team parted ways with former head coach Jim Harbaugh. Tomsula's tenure as defensive line coach spanned three head coaches — Harbaugh, Mike Singletary and Mike Nolan. Tomsula was the team's interim head coach in 2010 after Singletary was fired. Tomsula led the team to a 38-7 win over the Cardinals in 2010 to finish the season with a 6-10 record.
One of the more likeable people in the NFL, the soft-spoken Tomsula never seemed to garner the respect most head coaches get and was considered as a stop-gap for the 49ers.
Now that the job is open, the 49ers could reach out to former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, who was San Francisco's offensive coordinator from 1989-1991 and serving as the team's quarterbacks coach the three years before that. Holmgren has expressed interest in the 49ers job, but it's unknown whether the 67-year-old could actually be lured out of retirement.
The Niners had numerous problems at quarterback this season with Colin Kaepernick losing his starting job to former Jaguars' first-round pick Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick is most likely gone, but should the Niners keep Gabbert, he'd be playing under his seventh different head coach entering his sixth season on just two teams.