Tim Kawakami of The Mercury News is reporting that the San Francisco 49ers are no longer in the running for Cincinnati Bengals head coach Hue Jackson.
Sounds like the 49ers are no longer in the Hue Jackson sweepstakes. They COULD double-back, but sounds like that pursuit is over for now.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) January 12, 2016
However, Mike Silver of Sports Illustrated believes that there is "no one out" of the Jackson sweepstakes.
I'm done Tweeting about Hue Jackson for now, until there's news to report. I stand by what I've said to this point: nothing done, no one out
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 12, 2016
The 49ers, along with the Cleveland Browns, interviewed Jackson on Sunday for each team's head coaching vacancies. Jackson met with 49ers CEO Jed York for five hours in Cincinnati.
Jackson had been considered by many to be the front-runner for the 49ers. The New York Giants then requested permission to interview Jackson. They are scheduled to meet on Thursday. Jackson has said that he wanted to meet with the Giants before making a decision.
Since then, the 49ers have moved on to another candidate. Ironically, it is Tom Coughlin, the man that the Giants are attempting to replace with Jackson. Coughlin is meeting with 49ers general manager Trent Baalke today.
Jackson spent 2011 as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders before joining the Bengals as their secondary coach in 2012. He became the running backs coach in 2013 and then the offensive coordinator in 2014.
The 49ers have already met with former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, Buffalo Bills assistant head coach and running backs coach Anthony Lynn, Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, and even had discussions with former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan.