49ers Blog and Q&A

The 49ers are serious about keeping the gang together. According to a report on NFL.com, the team denied the Buccaneers permission to talk to talk to defensive backs coach Ed Donatell about Tampa Bay's vacant defensive coordinator position. Donatell's name was raised in relations to the Raiders' defensive coordinator job, too, but Donatell never was contacted.

Donatell has twice been an NFL defensive coordinator - in Green Bay from 2000-03 and in Atlanta from 2004-06. He also ran the defense at the University of Washington in 2008. He received praise this year from head coach Jim Harbaugh for his work with the 49ers' secondary, which saw two players - Carlos Rogers and Dashon Goldson - reach the Pro Bowl. Cornerback Tarell Brown also had the best season of his career and rookie Chris Culliver had a big role as the nickel cornerback.

Denying assistants permission to interview for bigger roles on other teams is considered rare. Doing so is generally thought to discourage talented coaches from joining your staff because of a fear they will have a tough time advancing.

-- Matt Barrows

Jed York and the 49ers announced today that they have signed Trent Baalke to a three-year extension that makes him the team's general manager through the 2016 season.

"Without question Trent has distinguished himself as the man to direct our football operations for years to come," York said in a statement. "Since taking over as general Manager last January, we have made great strides on the football field under Trent's leadership. It gives me great pleasure to watch Trent and Jim (Harbaugh) work arm-in-arm with the common goal of leading the 49ers to championships."

Indeed, Baalke not only worked well with Harbaugh this past season, he was integral in landing him. Harbaugh is not a man who values flash, and Baalke is certainly not flashy. Instead, he's a very no-nonsense type of personality who has kept out of the limelight and who has built a reputation as a very good evaluator of talent.

Harbaugh and Baalke hit it off in their first formal meeting in January of 2011, which was held in the pool house of a mutual friend. The two talked Xs and Os for hours. Harbaugh felt so at ease that he eventually removed his tie, took out a can of chewing tobacco and asked Baalke and York, "You guys mind if I dip?"

If you're going to suffer a season-ending injury, it's best to suffer it early in training camp. That's what happened to three young 49ers - Dontavia Bogan, Nate Byham and Curtis Holcomb - who are now ahead of schedule and should be at full strength for the next 49ers training camp.

That's in contrast to three 49ers from the 2010 season - Phillip Adams, Scott McKillop and Dominique Zeigler - who were still recovering from injuries during the 2011 training camp and who were eventually released. Zeigler and Adams suffered injuries during the season (Adams in the penultimate game of 2010) while McKillop suffered mulitiple knee ligament tears during the 2010 training camp.

Here's an update of each of the injured 49ers and where they might fit in 2012:

Receiver Dontavia Bogan: The 6-foot, 192-pound Bogan was the biggest name of all the undrafted free-agent receivers the team signed in July. Bogan was a second-team All-Big East player who led South Florida in receiving in 2010. Bogan tore his ACL early in training camp but did not do his rehab work in Santa Clara. Bogan is under contract through 2013 and is currently rehabbing in Arizona. He has resumed running.

Tight end Nate Byham: Byham suffered an ACL tear on July 31. The sixth-round pick from 2010 had just caught a pass in practice - in fact, he had caught several and looked good - when he went down in a heap along the sideline. If Byham hadn't gotten hurt, he would have had a significant role this season as the 49ers' third tight end, and he would have been very important once Delanie Walker went down with his jaw injury.

Hard hats are becoming mandatory at 49ers headquarters, which has undergone a sea change in the last month. I and several other writers stopped by today to clean out our cubicles from the media trailer, which is in the path of construction and which will be moved -- where, I don't know -- in coming days.

It's all a part of the make-ready work for the new stadium, which will be built in a parking lot across the street from the team's practice facility and headquarters. Actually, "across the street" isn't exactly correct. The new venue will stretch from the parking lot, over the street -- Centennial Boulevard -- and will be connected by a short passageway to the headquarters building. That is, the street will soon cease to exist.

Right now the work has been knocking down walls, ripping up parking lots and chopping down trees in an effort to make that area level. In the back of the building where the practice fields are located, there also have been changes. The hill -- dubbed Mt. Pain -- that Mike Singletary built in 2009 has been removed. It went unused in Jim Harbaugh's first season as head coach and was in the way of the new road to the facility. (More photos at the end of this blog).

**********************
Every soon-to-be 49ers free agent I've spoken to in recent weeks says he wants to return to the 49ers. I bumped into one of them, right guard Adam Snyder, at the 49ers facility today as he was leaving after a workout. Snyder, who is close to Joe Staley and Alex Smith among others, said talks have not yet begun on a new contract.

It hasn't been a great couple of weeks for 49ers defensive lineman and the law. According to the San Jose Mercury News, starting left defensive end Ray McDonald was arrested early this morning in Sunnyvale for an outstanding warrant related to a suspicion-of-DUI arrest in 2010. McDonald was pulled over after being recorded going 94 mph in a 65 mph zone of Interstate 280 in June 2010.

The 49ers issued a release Wednesday saying they "are aware of the recent matter involving Ray McDonald. We are gathering the relevant facts and monitoring the developments closely."

McDonald was released at 7 a.m., according to The Merc's report. According to the San Mateo County District Attorney's office, McDonald pled no contest to driving drunk in December 2010 and was put on probation and required to take a first offender's class that everyone convicted of DUI must take. He either failed to complete that class or failed to supply proof he had completed the class, and on Aug. 9 a warrant was issued for his arrest in the amount of $7,500.

That incident follows one involving rookie Aldon Smith, who was pulled over and charged with DUI in Miami Beach last month. Smith, according to police, was swerving in and out of lanes and registered .194 and .175 on two breathalyzer tests. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond.

Both Smith and McDonald were key pieces in the 49ers' relentless defense this season. McDonald signed a five-year, $20 million contract before the season and was made a starter opposite Justin Smith. McDonald finished with 39 tackles, 5 ½ sacks and two forced fumbles.

-- Matt Barrows

PEBBLE BEACH - Anyone still questioning Jim Harbaugh's commitment to Alex Smith for the upcoming season ought to consider this: Smith will serve as Harbaugh's caddie Thursday during the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

Talks have not yet begun on a new contract for Smith, who is one of the 49ers' six starters from 2011 scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next month. But both men left no doubt that Smith would be back for the 2012 season. "Obviously Alex is as high a priority as anyone on our team," Harbaugh said after stepping off the 18th green at Pebble Beach.

Their recent actions may speak even louder than Harbaugh's words. He and Smith almost have become a father-son duo, first carpooling from the South Bay to Pebble Beach on Tuesday and then pairing during a five-hole shootout with members of the San Francisco Giants organization. The 49ers' duo of Dwight Clark and Brent Jones won the tournament - as well as $30,000 to various charities - when Clark hit a three-foot putt on the 18th hole.

"It's like The Catch," someone shouted from the crowd as Clark lined up for the shot.

"I knew what I was doing then," Clark quipped before sinking the putt dead center.

Smith, meanwhile, plays golf like he handles quarterback - with few turnovers. He and Giants pitcher Matt Cain were the biggest drivers of the group, the difference being that Smith's tee shots usually ended up safely between the fringes.

Before the most recent free-agency period began, everyone thought that David Baas and Takeo Spikes would be back with the 49ers and that they'd probably lose safety Dashon Goldson to a big free-agent deal elsewhere. It didn't happen that way, which goes to show that no one - not even the teams themselves - knows exactly what's going to happen beginning on March 13 at 1 p.m.

Instead the following reading of the tea leaves is meant to give a sense of what is most likely to occur during the offseason. We'll start with the safeties.

Safety

The 49ers have three safeties -- Dashon Goldson, Reggie Smith and Madieu Williams - who will be unrestricted free agents, and a fourth, C.J. Spillman, who is a restricted free agent. Goldson is the priority here and is perhaps second only to quarterback Alex Smith in terms of free agents the team most wants to re-sign. He emerged this year as one of the top safeties in the league, came away with six interceptions, made the Pro Bowl and is only 27 years old.

The 49ers have leverage in this case. Goldson either can sign a five-year deal similar to the one that was offered, but rejected, by Goldson and agent Drew Rosenhaus last year or they can make him their franchise player, which the 49ers could do as early as Feb. 20. That would cost San Francisco roughly $6 million. The other bit of leverage is that there will be a ton of free-agent safeties on the market (see below) which, like last year, will dilute their individual worth. That is, there's a good chance Goldson will be back.

The Rams plan to interview Tom Gamble, the No. 2 man in the 49ers' scouting department behind GM Trent Baalke, for their opening at general manager, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Gamble has spent seven seasons with the 49ers. A year ago he was promoted from Director of Pro Personnel to Director of Player Personnel, which allowed him to oversee both the college and pro personnel departments. Director of college scouting Joel Patten currently is third in line behind Baalke and Gamble.

Gamble worked alongside new Rams coach Jeff Fisher when they were in Philadelphia - Fisher as defensive coordinator and Gamble as a college scouting administrator, area scout, contract negotiator and ultimately the director of pro scouting.

The Rams are considering a number of candidates for the job, including: Vikings Director of Player Personnel George Paton, Jets Vice President of College Scouting Joey Clinkscales, Dolphins Director of Player Personnel Brian Gaine and Cardinals Director of Player Personnel Steve Keim.

****************
The 49ers are giving Brad Seely an assistant. According to Fox Sports, the 49ers plan to hire Tracy Smith, who was Seeley's assistant special teams coach in Cleveland in 2010. Smith last year was an assistant for the Seahawks. Offensive quality control coach Ejiro Evero filled as Seely's assistant last season.

-- Matt Barrows

Lessons from the Super Bowl? The most important one is something the 49ers already knew going into the game - they were oh-so-close to winning a championship this year and that their biggest priority for the offseason should be keeping the current squad together.

That starts with the coach staff. Remarkably, the 49ers have had no major defections since the season ended on Jan. 22, and the coaches I've spoken with have said there's been a concentrated effort to keep everyone together. That, of course, can change quickly. If an assistant gets a high-ranking job on another team, he often will leave with several other coaches. So far, however, the only coach to leave is offensive quality control coach Bobby Engram, who was hired by Pitt to coach its wide receivers. (Side note: The Raiders' defensive coordinator position was filled with former 49ers linebackers coach Jason Tarver. Last year Tarver was Stanford's defensive coordinator).

The tougher task will be retaining the team's unrestricted free agents, six of whom were starters in 2011. The 49ers can begin going about that at on Feb. 20, which is the first date to assign the franchise tag (see calendar below).

On a related note, it must have been painful for the 49ers players - especially the defensive players - to watch the Giants win the Super Bowl. Eli Manning now has two titles, and he's not only attracting the word "elite" but the moniker, "Hall-of-Fame quarterback." The 49ers, of course, squandered two, perhaps three, chances at interceptions of Manning in the NFC Championship game. Had they taken advantage of those opportunities, the Manning rhetoric would be subdued.

The Super Bowl also was interesting because, like the 49ers, the Patriots needed at least one more dependable pass catcher. Tight end Rob Gronkowski was obviously limited throughout the game, which left Tom Brady and the offense with fewer options than he had in the regular seasons. Like the 49ers, New England could stand to add a young receiver or two in the draft. They'll have the 31st pick in the draft - one selection behind the 49ers.

NFL calendar:

Feb 20-Mar 5: Teams may designate franchise or transition player
Feb 22-28: Scouting combine
March 13, 1 p.m.: Start of league year (beginning of free agency)
April 26-28: NFL draft

-- Matt Barrows

Aaron Rodgers grew up in Chico idolizing Joe Montana and the 49ers, and he wore a Joe Montana T-shirt under his Cal uniform when he played for the Bears. But it wasn't until today at the NFL Honors ceremony in Indianapolis that Rodgers had a chance to meet Montana.

Rodgers was named the league's MVP at the ceremony, and it was clear that having a chance to chat with Montana and Steve Young - whom Rodgers called "a good friend" - were still on his mind as he accepted the award.

"I was a big Niners fan as a kid - thanks for drafting me," said Rodgers to laughter from the crowd, which included the player the 49ers did draft No. 1 overall in 2005, Alex Smith. Smith, meanwhile, finished third in the "Comeback Player" category, but he had his own turn on stage in accepting the Coach of the Year award for Jim Harbaugh.

Judging from shots of the crowd, at least two other coach-of-the-year candidates, New Orleans' Sean Payton and Detroit's Jim Schwartz, were on hand. Harbaugh and brother John were not.

"He probably would say that he doesn't deserve this," Smith told the crowd. "That's the type of guy he is. He'd give all the credit to the players, to the assistant coaches. From someone who's had one or two coaches in my career, I'd just like to tell you this is well-deserved. Congratulations, coach."

-- Matt Barrows