On Monday, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick was on "SportsCenter" to explain which teams with a coaching vacancy are the most appealing. One team that he pointed out as a great place to go to was the San Francisco 49ers. Riddick's reasoning was that the 49ers were a team that you could build from the ground up.
Riddick is a candidate for the 49ers' general manager opening. He will interview with the team next week in New York. It's very likely that if he were to be offered the position, he would accept.
"What Jed York is setting up Scott [Van Pelt] is a situation where, now, you can really, literally, in every sense of the word, build it from the ground up," Riddick said. "Meaning that there has not been someone that has survived a regime change and there isn't someone who is coming in with a perceived lack of power compared to the person who survived which just breathes mistrust and that's one of the things that really kills this relationship when you have teams that are really falling on hard times anyways. Usually, it's really that breach of trust and inability to work together.
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"So what [Jed York] has done now and he has already stated is the fact that, look, 'I really want to look ahead and just start over from scratch where you have two people that share philosophical commonalities and actually like working with one another. And then they can go ahead and just really set the direction of this football organization and that's something that coaches are looking for, something that GMs are looking for – an ability to work on the same level as the head coach or the head coach with the GM and really build the thing from the ground up. And that is something that no other situation right now is offering.
"That's not to say that the roster doesn't need a lot of work because it does, but you're starting off with a relationship that gives you the best chance to succeed."
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Riddick is correct about the roster, which is seen by many as one of the least talented in the NFL. However, the lack of a talented roster does not sound like something that would scare off Riddick. In fact, it sounds like the opposite. Riddick sounds excited to take on such a blank slate like the 49ers.
Riddick went on to identify two offensive coordinators that will be hot names as teams try to fill head coaching vacancies. The first was Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who will meet with the 49ers on Friday. The second was New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who will meet with the 49ers on Saturday.
Riddick has a good amount of executive experience having served as the director of pro personnel for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He has also served as a scout for both teams.
Riddick's NFL playing days as a safety started when he was drafted by the 49ers in the ninth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He worked with Trent Baalke during his time in Washington and Chip Kelly in Philadelphia. Riddick became an on-air analyst for ESPN in 2013.