Apparently, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick is not a fan of the San Francisco 49ers imminent hiring of Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their next head coach. Riddick was part of the 49ers' first wave of interviews for the general manager vacancy. His name was linked to New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was in the running for the team's new head coach. When McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration on Monday and Shanahan became a lock for the job, Riddick was told by the 49ers that he would not be part of the team's second round of interviews.
On Friday, Riddick tweeted out that being a good play caller does not necessarily translate into being a good head coach. That is absolutely true. The tweet could be seen as a shot at the 49ers' decision to go with Shanahan. Of course, that is pure speculation based on the tweet itself. That is until Riddick later confirmed that it was about Shanahan...without actually saying so.
A lot of examples of good coordinators going back to being just that....coordinators. Being a good player caller = good HC = NOT true.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) January 21, 2017
One well-respected 49ers fan, Patrick Tulini, responded to the tweet. "Sounds like a shot at Kyle Shanahan," Tulini wrote. Instead of just leaving the tweet be and ignoring it, Riddick blocked the fan. Yes, he blocked the fan over that response. Tulini told us he was surprised by the block – his first ever – because he didn't feel that he insulted Riddick.
It's hard to imagine that even Trent Baalke, the 49ers' former general manager, would have blocked a fan for such a comment...if he used Twitter. Perhaps it is a good thing that the 49ers did not pursue Riddick further if a simple response to one of his tweets – which is stating the obvious – invokes a reaction like that.
The leading candidate for the general manager job is now considered to be Minnesota Vikings assistant general manager George Paton, who has a second interview with the 49ers this coming week.