Jim Tomsula fired after 1 season as 49ers head coach

The San Francisco 49ers have fired head coach Jim Tomsula after a disastrous first season in charge of the team. The team announced its decision Sunday night after the 49ers beat the St. Louis Rams.

“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.”

Tomsula led the 49ers to a 5-11 record, and the 49ers played their worst football against their NFC West rivals. Tomsula’s team has been out-coached all season and was on the receiving end of multiple 40-point beatdowns.

Some will say he got a raw deal in San Francisco and others will say he never should have been hired in the first place. What’s certain is that he inherited a team coming off one of the worst offseasons in NFL history.

The 49ers saw the retirements of big-name players like Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Anthony Davis and Chris Borland. They lost big-name free agents like Frank Gore and Chris Culliver. The biggest loss is the only one that benefited Tomsula, a former defensive line coach: the previous head coach, Jim Harbaugh.

After leaks and a long, drawn-out process that was infinitely more complicated and secretive than it needed to be, the 49ers fired Harbaugh, briefly courted Adam Gase, passed on Vic Fangio and hired Tomsula. They gave him an uninspiring group of coordinators including Geep Chryst, Colin Kaepernick’s quarterbacks coach and Eric Mangini, a failed head coach in his own right.

When the season started, it became obvious quickly that the 49ers could not absorb all the changes at once and come out the other end. Kaepernick, who was given a sizable contract extension last year, was eventually benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert and then placed on injured reserve.

Starting running back Carlos Hyde was also injured and the offensive line was a wreck. The cornerback position was constantly changing, and then Antoine Bethea went down with an injury. NaVorro Bowman recovered from his injury well and players like Aaron Lynch and Garrett Celek stepped up big time, but it was too little, too late.

Tomsula’s team often looked unprepared for the teams in front of them, and the play-calling was a constant issue. There were other questionable personnel decisions, such as sticking with Jordan Devey at right guard when Andrew Tiller outplayed him every time they rotated.

Tomsula has been with the 49ers since he joined the team as a defensive line coach in 2007. He was also briefly the interim head coach in 2010 when Mike Singletary was fired. The 49ers were his first NFL team as a coach, though he was the head coach of the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe in 2006.