San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello doesn't believe $137.5 million will go to Jimmy Garoppolo's head. Scangarello was Matt Maiocco's guest this week on the "49ers Insider" podcast for NBC Sports Bay Area.
Scangarello was a vital member of the 49ers coaching staff who worked tirelessly to help get Garoppolo up to speed on Kyle Shanahan's offense after the quarterback was traded from the New England Patriots to San Francisco on October 30, 2017. The hard work helped prepare Garoppolo to start during the 49ers' final five games of the season, which were all victories.
Garoppolo's new five-year deal, which was signed last week, is the largest in NFL history. Scangarello expects the same guy to show up once the team reconvenes for its offseason program.
"I think that's why it was easy for the organization and everyone to invest in somebody like Jimmy Garoppolo," Scangarello told Maiocco. "I just think that's not the kind of person he is. If you met his family, you'd know where he comes from, what he's about. His brothers, his parents (are) just good, solid people. He's made of the right stuff, and I just don't see that affecting him in that way. It's just not who he is.
"That's the fun part of working with someone like that every day. When they're really talented, and they appreciate everything and they work at it, you have a chance to be a successful organization, and they can be a great player. And I don't think those things will ever affect him."
Garoppolo appreciates his new quarterbacks coach too. He has made it a point to praise Scangarello on multiple occasions since joining the 49ers.
"Rich doesn't get enough credit in my opinion," Garoppolo told reporters before the 49ers' final game of the season. "There's a lot of moving pieces, but Rich has been with me since I first got here. Literally the first day I walked in here, we were going over stuff after I did all the interviews and whatnot.
"I think a big part of our relationship was that Bye week, though. A lot of one-on-one time. We only had a couple of receivers here, so we got to know each other pretty well. He's a smart coach, and he makes it a lot easier for me to go through my reads when he explains things how I understand them."
Scangarello remembers that first day that Garoppolo was in Santa Clara. Following an introductory press conference and a few media interviews, Scangarello finally got his hands on the quarterback at around 9 p.m. The two started working on formations and the basics of the playbook until about midnight, according to Scangarello. The next day, Garoppolo was back to work at 6 a.m. taking in as much information as his mind could digest.
You can listen to the entire interview with Scangarello, who also discusses why he wanted to work with Shanahan, below.
